Reports have it that officials of the Nigeria Center for Disease Control(NCDC), functioning on directives, give preference to members of the top echelon of the society, while those at the lower wrung watch helplessly, in the testing and treatment of patients, who have symptoms of the coronavirus pandemic.
However, in response to the ravaging pandemic, the Powers the Be, in its wisdom, shall deploy relief materials to only Lagos state, the Federal Capital Territory and Ogun state. This is closely followed by the non-disclosure of the actual amount spent so far, to curtail the pandemic, while the amount to be spent in the coming days remains unknown.
Accountability, sincerity and truthfulness ought to guide the activities of all those at the front line in the bid to curtail the spread of the COVID 19.
Announcing the continuation of the school feeding program, when all the schools in the country are on forced holidays, suggests that the leadership is not well informed about happenings in the country.
Of worry to millions of Nigerians , is the fact that financial palliatives and social welfare packages are not yet in sight, even as Governors in a number of states are already enforcing a stay-at-home order.
Indeed, the funds donated by well meaning Nigerians and corporate organizations ought to be accounted for, even as the agency saddled with the responsibility of collecting the donations remains a mystery.
Will the present administration at all levels provide for millions of Nigerians within the poverty line ? It is doubtful, if the President’s speech and hose of the Governors are anything to go by.
Sadly, the behavior of certain category of Nigerians is not a respite. Market men and women in various markets across the country have taken advantage of the life threatening situation to make unreasonable profits from foodstuffs, while a number of criminally minded Nigerians in several communities are having a field day engaging in crime and criminality with the consent of some unscrupulous law enforcement agents.
For example, at the Molusi street/Olorunsogo, Molete/Oshodi street/Scout Camp areas of Ibadan, Oyo state, cultists comprising, but not limited to a Okada rider popularly known as Brother Bayo, a barber popularly known as ‘Samba’, a Police rank and file’s wife(whose shop is beside the barber’s shop at Oshodi street junction of Scout Camp, two Okada mechanics and some carpenters, daily intimidate, attack, terrorize and dispossess residents of their valuables, without any hope of a reprieve.
A responsible leadership knows what to do in this precarious situation. Perhaps.