Fighting Covid-19 with incantations

– What are you doing hunkered over your computer as if you’re sitting for JAMB?

– We should never get tired of seeking answers to life’s post-JAMB questions.

– So true.

– I am looking at how fragile we are. Nuclear power, best military, yenyenyen, yet an invisible virus has locked the world down. But in the midst of it, the Nigerian state is eerily relaxed.

– Oh, you mean the virus that is killing white people.

– This is a rainbow virus – a leveller. By the middle of last week, Africa had 400 cases and counting.

– Oh, don’t believe everything you find in the news. Take news stories with a pinch of Trump. African mortality rate comes from weaklings who have compromised their natural immunity with the indulgence of rushing abroad to treat common headaches. Ask Michael Ryan WHO’s Emergencies Director Nigeria is ahead of the curve.

– Really?

– Oh yes. We were on top of the situation from the get go. We started early. Our centre is so good it treated and discharged an Italian who would have been a casualty in his own country.

– We kept our airports open to a devastating virus while closing land borders to rice smugglers. This mutant virus could hibernate dormant for weeks while the carrier unwittingly spread it all over town and we have some of the most scattered towns in the world.

– We will conquer and dominate this virus the way we dealt with Ebola.

– Nonsense, this virus gives Ebola something to worry about. If any part of Africa gets the Italian deluge, half of the infected won’t make it.

– Calm down, the first three tested cases in Nigeria were treated and discharged. The mortality rate is not as alarming as the hype makes it.

– You make it look like a vial of optimism cures this virus.

– The statistics my dear friend; the numbers doesn’t lie. Seventy to 80 per cent of survival rate with proper management. Everywhere from Wuhan to Japan; even Italy’s survival rate fuels hope.

– You are comparing apples with potatoes my friend. Italy has functional health facilities, qualified doctors, running water, good roads, ambulances and well-planned towns and cities; resources required to deal with emergencies. Yet they were overwhelmed. We’re talking of a country where doctors are on strike over $20 hazard allowance, bed space without mattresses, and wards without roofs.

– Have faith my friend, have faith. If government says it has things under wraps, believe them. There’s no need to press the panic button and set the whole nation on alarm.

– Where do you people get blind optimism in the face of global mortal danger? Strong nations are on their knees announcing stimulus packages. Nigeria reduced fuel by N20! Where are Nigerian leaders? They are maintaining their own social distance from their responsibilities!

– Heh man, take the chill pill. I tell you we’ll make it.

– Amen.

– Come on, be kind to us; our leaders are not sleeping, they are working. I don’t know why you’re so worked up.

– You’re not?

– No I’m not. Stop comparing us with other nations because our case is different.

– You’re right. Our case is different because we’re not a nation.

– Of course we are. Remember, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal.

– Oh yeah!

– Trust me. We are a prayerful nation.

– Do we pray better than elected Israel that has 400-recorded cases by the middle of last week.

– The race is not for the swift or the battle for the strong.

– Go ahead preacher; quote the scriptures! Saudi Arabia the custodian of the Holy Kaaba closed its airspace and locked its holy shrines to large crowds. Even the Holy See is closed to human traffic.

– We’ve banned over a dozen nations from flying in. States are closing schools.

We’re responding according to the need.

– The big question is – is the virus responding to our needs? The answer is no. Our elders say a man with deep sockets starts crying early. Our approach is fatalistic and attitude like that stokes this virus to take lives.

– We’re praying for the best.

– Exactly, so was Iran. Where are our leaders?

– They are working hard behind the scenes. I think you should commend their loyalty in times like this. At least nobody has left Nigeria to hide elsewhere.

– Who is stopping them?

– Patriotism.

– Wrong, Covid-19. I bet you, if foreign airspaces weren’t closed they’d have had excuses to go and treat an ankle they twisted before 1960.

– I see schools closing, rallies curtailed, worship leaders being persuaded to limit numbers. What else should they do?

– Be practically out there living by example, emphasizing social distancing, a regime of rigorous hand washing with soap and water. Encouraging the sick and infirmed to self-quarantine.

– God is our muscle.

– God is everybody’s muscle, even the dead. We can’t fight this virus by chanting incantations.

– We can’t fight this virus at all – period! We’re living on the hope that this virus won’t fight us.