By Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN

Last week, I dwelt on what I considered to be the ways and means by which Nigeria survived (or is surviving) the coronavirus pandemic. I thank God that even till now, the daily cases of infection and death have been on the decline. And I believe that this will continue till we are able to secure the vaccine against the plague. It is for the government to do its best to keep rallying support from the people towards a holistic health practice of all the protocols of social distancing, face masking, constant washing of hands and use of sanitizers. It should be a permanent way of life rather than periodic observance because of any pandemic.

REJOINDER

Flowing from the piece on this topic published last week, I received calls and messages, by way of rejoinder, from well-meaning Nigerians, through which they expressed their own perspective of the issues surrounding COVID 19. Whereas I may not totally agree with these perspectives, I consider it proper to share some of them with you as follows.

Alex Ogundadegbe:

“They didn’t create heaven and the earth. They are not God. Since March, no evil prophecy has come to pass. This one too will not come to pass in the name of Jesus! Kojubeelo!

I have done my own findings at Gbagada and Ikeja General Hospitals. It surely pays some people to keep spreading Covid fears but through my findings God hasn’t allowed anyone to die in my environment. Ebola is stronger than COVID-19. People do what I tell them to do. Covidprenueurs should make their money.”

Peter Moronranti:

“Don’t bother to argue Covid 19 with anybody in Lagos and Ogun. If you go to the other parts of the country, you will know Covid 19 is defeated. People go about their normal lives without fear or any outbreak.”

Esv Gabriel Ubuwere:

“Nigerians pray a lot. As proof that our prayers are never wasted, God answered. Some countries go to war because the citizens of those countries, who should be praying, failed to do so and these things are spiritual. Demons who moved world leaders are responsible for wars and are also responsible for all major pandemic. You don’t have to believe me though.

Gbeminiyi Obileye:

“I really do not think the government, especially at the federal, deserves any commendation. A government that gambled away over 30billion of our common patrimony in our most helpless state should be condemned! In the States, all you hear are humongous amounts but you can’t correlate it with the situation on ground. If anything further confirmed the clueless wickedness of our “dealers”, it’s this pandemic!”

Ilaje Trumpet:

“No much to commend the government for. Our government only gave order without any necessary assistance, but the people of Nigeria painstakingly obeyed. I think the commendation should only go to the Nigerian masses who endured the suffering with their obedience to the harmful order. Thanks to God, we survived it.”

Obong Affang, Esq (Matters Arising):

“My reading of things about COVID-19 in Nigeria is that in the minds of most Nigerians, we are now in post-COVID era. So they talk about COVID-19 only in the past tense of when there was lockdown. Social distancing is just a new lingo, not an attitude, those of us who wear masks in public places are still looked at as aliens or ‘over-sabi’ people.

And thanks to the opening of all openable places and activities (including sports and cinemas); international flights etc. Life is back to normal and life is good. Now I hear of a second wave of infection in the Western countries for which flight connectivity to Nigeria is open. And recently, the NCDC had informed that 40% of passengers who arrived on a particular international flight tested positive to COVID-19, despite the introduction of pre-testing before travel rules. The Nigerian government is accusing the airlines of ineffectiveness in ensuring compliance.

By the way, who is still monitoring what is happening in all the places that have since reopened: markets, schools, offices, worship places, public transportation etc. The days ahead look scary and unplanned for.”

Like I said earlier, it is good to view issues from the perspectives of others, so that one is able to form a global view in considering them. There is a general feeling that the government has not properly accounted for the funds received from donors for COVID 19. There is no hard and fast rule about this other than that by now, there should be a verifiable rendition of accounts through an independent audit report. The government owes us this minimum duty in the least.

THE SUSPENDED PROTEST BY LABOUR AND CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS

Labour and Civil Society Organisations (LASCO) had planned to commence a nationwide strike on Monday, against the electricity tariff hike and increase in the price of petroleum products, but last minute dialogue between labour and the government negotiating team aborted the protest. No doubt most Nigerians currently have their backs against the wall, given the economic hardship they are going through and also the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on the fortunes of many. There have been varying degrees of opinions on the planned protest but many others have received the suspension with mixed feelings given the degree to which Nigerians have been mobilized in readiness for what was to be the mother of all protests.
Without any doubt, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in its section 39 (1) has granted every citizen, including workers, the right to protest.

“39 (1) Every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference.”

Freedom of expression is sacrosanct to the right to life itself and so, no one should attempt to gag anybody from expressing his or herself. The beauty of section 39 (1) is that it talks of “every person”, including natural and artificial persons, such as myself, yourself and the Nigerian Labour Congress, the Trade Union Congress and the civil society organisations, who have all been granted an unfettered right to protest any government policy that is considered insensitive.

LASCO has insisted that the current increase in electricity tariff is against the subsisting judgment of the Federal High Court. To that extent, it is illegal for the government and the DISCOS to increase the cost of electricity in flagrant violation of valid court judgment. But above it all is that such increment should be done in such a way that electricity consumers are not made to subsidize the corruption and inefficiency that have become prevalent in that critical sector, by ensuring that every consumer is metered. The issue of estimated billing should be abolished once and for all. That should be the primary focus of the DISCOS, so that the increment is not deployed to exploit consumers who are not able to enjoy electricity supply but are yet compelled to pay for such at premium. Indeed, it will be the greatest act of injustice to ask anyone to pay for what he does not consume.

Then the local refineries should be made to function optimally such that in the years to come, we are able to refine our petroleum products and cut the cost of importation and all its associated bottlenecks of corruption and profiteering. In this regard, it is gratifying that the government has now submitted the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, to the National Assembly, in order to rescue that sector from its undertakers. The National Assembly should in turn accelerate the process of its passage and thus help transform the oil sector for the good of our people and the investors.

There should be visible economic policies of government that affect the lives of the people positively and that can also be verified. For instance, since the increment in the cost of electricity, supply has been fairly stable and regular, ranging between 20 and 16 hours in some locations in Lagos. A few locations have 22 hours supply, which means that all along, Nigerians do not deserve to live in a nation thrown into darkness or be the biggest importers of generators. COVID 19 should be used as a golden opportunity to improve our health sector, to build modern hospitals and make the primary, secondary and tertiary health providers more effective and functional. Our people do not ask for so much but to have good roads, functional hospitals, security of lives and property, affordable schools, stable electricity and provision of other critical infrastructure. These are not so hard to provide, considering the fact that other nations with less resources and opportunities are doing so for their people.

When one considers the plight of the ordinary worker or Nigerian, whose income has been battered by rising inflation and whose earning power has now been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, it can safely be said that the protest by LASCO is justified. What the government should do is to engage in a roundtable in order to find a solution to the issues raised by LASCO and allow Nigerians to breathe.