COVID-19: TIME TO STOP REACTING, AFRICA MUST RESPOND - Congressman Bimbo Daramola

Growing up my grandmother used to tell us in my Ekiti dialect, " han a wi uku i lode,

kan gbode re uku" meaning literally "we cannot cede our streets to death because they say death is stalking the streets"

Well COVID-19 seems to have to a large extent challenged this wise saying from my grandmother, albeit momentarily depending on what we do from now and henceforth with the situation we have found ourselves in. 

COVID-19 that happened on us is undeniable now! What do we do with it is the question?

To a greater majority it caught us pants down, save for the video that showed President Barack Obama talk about the likelihood of a pandemic that is flu like, and he predicted that this may happen between five and ten years, so this clearly validates the fact that the intelligence community of some "big-boy" nations knew that something was afoot. 

Naturally they did not share the info, no heads up, and when it happened for some reason they have casualties in tens of thousands and Africa is dealing with losses painfully so too but not posting the figures from the big-boy nations. 

We can say we were caught napping because we were not privy to the information and sadly too those who were and hoarded the info, regrettably did not work on it, and today they will not say the fault is in their stars, but here we are paying for a meal we did not partake in. 

Now that we are at this point, as I said on a National Television station yesterday, we must domesticate our action, we cannot continue to lap up the cut and paste methodologies of coping with CORONA VIRUS as handed to us. 

Its time for us to own our response and stop REACTING!!!

Virtually all we know and work with by way of information and knowledge were handed down and not one thing in terms of response has evolved generically from within and among us in Africa. Not one. 

We woke up to directives from others that we should wash our hands frequently,even times for 20 seconds, that we should wear masks, self isolate, social distancing, quarantine and the ultimate prize LOCKDOWN strategy! 

Now my worry is that the Lockdown which is the most far reaching of the "directives" handed down is not very compatible with us as Africans, it does not match up with our lives, in principle, pattern and not informed or supported by our socio-economic realities! 

But Lockdown we must. Little wonder why today the society is bursting at the seams because it's strange to us to stay locked in!!!, indeed it's when they say we should stay inside that our pristine nature pushes us out!!! That's us!. 

We have a lot of homeless people , whose bed spaces are makeshift kiosks that doubles up in the day as "stands" for itinerant food sellers and when night falls becomes the "homes" of many people at the various motor parks. 

In other climes , there are homeless people mostly on drugs, but not as many as we have in this part of the world, and somehow they still have a working social security system that knows them and has provision for them every week, that offers not only actual economic reprieve but psychological buffer against hopelessness. 

In many African nations, such a near perfect social security system does not exist, and where it does like in Nigeria, it is fraught with irregularities and the absurdity of a bloated register, sometimes burdened by corruption. But Lockdown we must.

So in determining the efficacy of such any strategy, it is clear that the structure to build the Lockdown strategy upon as it is elsewhere does not exist here in Africa. So its a mismatch, that can only serve momentarily not enduringly.

Then about 80% of the 1.4 billion Africans have subsistence lifestyle, their livelihood is dependent on what they do during the day, from cart pushing, through Cab driving to local hair dresser, barbers, newsvendors, masons, painters, Students, Bludgeoning populationof unemployedand underemployed, to "Mama Put" restauranteurs etc to all of these people Lockdown as a strategy is seen as punishment i.e depriving them the opportunity to access and earn legitimate income to keep themselves and families alive, but Lockdown we must. 

Now in many countries in Africa, governments are grappling with growing citizen resistance, restlessness and managing that may be difficult in the days ahead, going by what we now see on the streets with attacks on vehicles conveying food items during the day and attacks on neighbourhoods that seems to belong to those perceived as more immune to the consequences of the Lockdown strategy. 

Now as at today, nobody can safely tell what will happen next after the next lock down date, another extension? how do we measure the impact of Lockdown? when it did not prevent death of thousands in more organised countries? 

But what I know is that with the resistance that is brewing now, the policemen drafted to enforce the lock down will be overwhelmed by the sheer number of people that will over run them in an event of another lockdown extension. Let's prepare for that. And we do not need high handed treatment of citizens who are already groaning under the weight of this pandemic as it is.

A minor drama happened in Abuja, Nigeria, where a grown up man was being restrained by security operatives from going into town , coming from the suburbs, the man simply went berserk and stripped his clothes to his butts screaming , how do I feed my family? You say I should stay at home? What will i eat?It's obvious that the man believes that it's better to run away from hunger than from CORONA VIRUS. 

So we have reacted enough, it's time to respond,and this is where my grandmother's statement comes in handy! 

We simply cannot abandon our lives and our world to Corona, as morbidly cruel as it is, the reality is that how long can our safety be guaranteed in our homes , if our streets remain unsafe? 

God forbid that death begins to knock on our doors since we are all ensconed in our homes!,

Death in this instance from massive hunger, (that palliatives cannot handle) death from inability of the sick to access medicare, because of Lockdown or afford their medications, death from poor electricity in our homes to power fans in this very hot weather, death from frustrations, feeling of hopelessness or helplessness or both and above all death from armed robbers who will do anything to survive! Their victims are defined by the neighborhoods and appearances. 

Definitely death will stalk us.

So it's time to respond, based on and motivated and informed by our realities as Africans, from socio economic to cultural and even politically. 

For me the way out is to push the borders and boundaries of strategies foisted on us from other climes causing us to react permanently as against responding.

We must not react perpetually which is what we have been doing with adoption of all the strategies that have been handed down from other climes, suggesting that we are not a thinking lot. 

Now there is the unseen strategy that the guys who passed down the present strategies that we are adopting today, will never tell us or encourage us to do. 

They will never report that or put them up for discussion until they succeed and then we become either guinea pigs or further slip in Africa's comfort zone of age long dependence on others for solutions to her problems, insatiable palate for quick fixes!

This is the strategy of getting local scientists and researchers to go into aggressive research, this is one strategy that is always kept in the background. 

As at today, there is nothing to suggest that Africans believe that they have capacity or capability to handle their own problems , rather they wait for somebody from somewhere else to figure out the solution to their problems!

This is one of the biggest shameful attributes of Africans today. 

It took a Bill and Melisa Gate to champion the cause of polio vaccination in Africa, the unfolding events are telling now, that this may not be altruistic afterall in the light of the revelations about Bill Gates tacit support for the evil "#depopulation #philosophy"that will reduce the population of Africans to 500million!

He has admitted to funding five organisations to produce vaccines against Corona VIRUS! He is not interested in vaccines against other medical challenges, this new foray and enterprise are both driven by mercantilism and #morbid #masochism.

Africa must not forget the vaccination test where innocent children from Northern Nigeria were the Guinea pigs and they died in thousands from the consequences of the administration of that vaccine. 

Who knows the fate that awaits Africans when Bill Gates vaccines are concluded, already two french sadists doctors have identified Africa as a place to run the tests, which is being protested against weakly, and Democratic Republic of Congo already indicated acceptance. 

So why won't Africans pick up the gauntlet?

And save Africans from those who run with the hare and hunt with the hounds?Those who show up like helping us to dry our wet clothes but are the ones really encouraging the water conduit that makes us wet!

Why must we wait on others to find solutions for us? Since Ebola outbreak about five years ago, Africa has lacked the initiative to find a vaccine or an effective, efficient and potent treatment plan or management regime for this monstrous death laden virus five years later? We are waiting on other people!!

Shamelessly Africans have not deemed it fit to conquer our age long Malaria till date! Malaria and polio are still killer diseases in Africa.

Incidentally a drug called COTEXCIN was manufactured in China! for Africa about ten years ago, and guess what? The raw materials for the production came from nowhere else but you know it, AFRICA! Now shipped to us for consumption. 

Nigerian government formally introduced and launched the drugs when the Chinese brought back the medication to us. I know their agents.

Now we are here now, what are we going to do with this? 

The truth is that within this whole morbid and surreal situation lies some opportunities and the first is that Africans must quit the dependency mentality, where all we do is depend on others for solutions to our problems from badly skewed Aids and loans to Relief materials and all manner of interventions for survival. 

This must stop, that is one of the inherent lessons that must not be lost on the leaderships on the continent from the COVID-19 malady.

Now two clear basics moving forward. 

Firstly, all of the strategies handed down to us and that we have imbibed WILL NOT END CORONA VIRUS!!! 

The aggregate expected value proposition of all these strategies is to reduce incidents, and incidences and occurrences until such a time that we either have a vaccination or safe medications to treat it! Pure and Simple. 

Now that we do know that these are the two ends of the spectrum, vaccines or medication for treatment, so what is Africa doing to connect with these reality? 

We have heard of several home remedies and all sorts of claims from people, its worrisome that our consciousness is not awake to the fact that the guys undertaking research into vaccines and drugs outside of Africa do not have two heads! 

Why won't we just develop an aggressive strategy that is home grown from Africa, using Africa natural endowments for liberation of Africans should by now be a front burner strategy that we cannot afford to ignore or make light of. 

Why must we wait for solutions from outside of Africa and be so dependent, while our people keep languishing through these painful times, when we also could try to seize the moment and use this opportunity to lead the world? 

I am certainly convinced that Africans with the right incentives can find a way out of these, if the right environment is created. 

It is time to think of responding and stop REACTING, Africa must seize the moment and break this dependence hold and appendage effigy mentality image that we have all regretably cut. 

We have this moment to seize. 

And we must do it Now, lest we again lose a moment to further deepen the meaning of our independence and earn the respect that our sovereignty should naturally attract. 

#Congressman #Bimbo #Daramola 

#Abuja.

#3rd Week of #COVID-19 #Lockdown.