The Nigeria COVID-19 Scam-demic

BY ANTHONY ARUGBA
I am seriously bordered that a nation with over 200m citizens just crossed the 100, 000 testing of her citizens for COVID19? As of June 24, 2020, samples tested is 120, 108. The 100,000 testing benchmark is supposed to be per day but that is what we have reached since February 27, 2020, when the first case of the virus was announced.
Rather than attend to the serious challenge before us the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID19 is doing nothing more than talking. Talking without matching words with actions tantamount seems to nothing. Considering the rising number of the virus in the country, we are supposed to intensify efforts at the massive testing of Nigerians rather than engaging in copy and paste. The PTF is only busying looking at what other counties are doing and applying same here. This is why the number of infected COVID-19 patients keeps increasing. The countries they are copying have almost reached the 50,000 to 100,000 testing per day mark? Sadly, we just crossed the 100,000 mark since the February 27, 2020, when the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in Nigeria. When you do the maths, you will realize that we still have a long way to go. Does it not bother you that Nigeria is tinkering with the total easing of lockdown without a clearcut blue print in dealing with the pandemic? Little wonder that many Nigerians now perceive the Coronavirus like a scam-demic than a pandemic? Do you blame them? Recall how officials of the Federal Government defended the invitation of the Chinese team and offered them full state protocol upon arrival, only to now turn around to disclaim the supposed experts, denied involvement with them and even forbade Nigerians from enquiring about their whereabouts. Note that whereas our nation’s COVID-19 data, upon the arrival of the Chinese team in April, stood at 254 confirmed cases with 44 successfully treated by our doctors and 6 deaths, which reportedly had other underlining ailments.
Today, the data stands at 21,371 confirmed cases as of June 24, 2020, with 533 deaths.
What about the huge resources donated by the private sector, the ones from the EU, UN, World Bank, well meaning individuals, banking institutions in the country and all. Why is the NCDC still complaining about the dearth of testing kits? What about the funds allegedly released by government for palliatives to the masses and the massive depletion and disappearing of same? What about monies being spent allegedly on school feeding whilst schools are on lockdown? Do they think Nigerians are daft? We must not be quiet until the truth is revealed.
Do you yet wonder why the COVID-19 figures are on the massive increase albeit with almost completely faceless victims whose addresses and locations remain unknown? How can you contain a pandemic without releasing the names and addresses of the victims?
How would those who may have been in contact or proximity with the victims know, take precaution, self isolate or quarantine? How will the spread be stemmed with the secrecy and perhaps the glaring hypocrisy of the managers of the scam-demic.
For as long as the politics of the pandemic is more important to the Nigerian State, we shall continue to address COVID-19 in Nigeria as a scam-demic until the needful is done. Like George Floyd couldn’t breath under the weight of that racist Cop, and for as long as America continues to politic with matters of race and colour, a George Floyd will judge her fluidity and bring her hypocrisy to judgment.