Dust of COVID-19: Nigeria may be dining with the devil

Although, scientists in Wuham have denied that the virus SARS-COV 2 originated from the Chinese territory and that its occurrence arose naturally from bats which was the primary host to a secondary animal which consequently passed it to humans, there can be no logical reason to exonerate the Wuham Institute of Virology, China from the allegation that it unleashed one of the most potent and fatal scourge on the human race. This is because the first case of Coronavirus as reported in the South Morning China Post in November 2019, was a 55-year-old man from Hubei Province in China, a location that is in the same geographical province as Wuham. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since the appearance of this index case about six months ago.

As at Sunday, April 19, 2020, Nigeria real-time update showed that there are 627 cases, with 21 deaths and 170 recoveries in the country. According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the world has reported 2,281,714 cases to date with 159,511 deaths and the counter is still ticking.

Although, as at today, Nigeria does not seem to feature prominently on the Coronavirus statistics map of the world because of its low incidence rate, other African countries such as South-Africa with 3034 cases and 52 deaths, Egypt (3032 cases with 224 deaths), Morocco (2685 cases with 137 deaths), Algeria (2535 cases with 367 deaths) and Cameroon ( 1016 cases with. Deaths) are not so fortunate. Like the Yoruba Adage “ Enitiko ti ku, ko mo iruiku ti yio pa ohun” literally meaning “A man who is alive doesn’t know how his end will be”. As long as the virus continues to ravage humanity, no one can determine the final statistics.

We shall continuously be grateful to the proactive moves of the Lagos State Government led by Governor Babatunde Olusola Sanwo-Olu, the death rate would have been more drastic and graphic. We should always pat the Sanwo-Olu’s administration on the back for ensuring that, although, the scourge is unavoidable, yet, the dexterity with which its velocity and depth were curtailed ensured that the health facilities and infrastructures in the country were not overwhelmed.

Most issues on the evolution and spread of Coronavirus should be left to history and posterity to decipher but as earlier mentioned in this piece, the suspicion is that the virus might have been deliberately cloned and released into the human space by China for deeper economic and political considerations. After all, the SARS COV 2 which bears close semblance and affinity to Coronavirus is found to be predominant in bats that are mostly found in the Yunnan provinces in China. Irrespective of the locus of its path and web woven around it, the maternity ward of COVID-19 is in China, therefore, continuous denial will only make the global community suspicious. These denials in the face of obvious empirical evidences continuously engender probing questions.

Is it possible that China has dug into history and consequently use her knowledge of microbiology to wage a pandemic war against the world with the sole aim of hegemony?. With Coronavirus shutting down the Human Resources of the world with dare consequences, one cannot but raise the question “ What does China want from humanity?”. In a YouTube video titled “ video that expose Chinese propaganda” released penultimate week by GRAVITAS, the Chinese are being accused of having latent economic objectives. According to the report, the shutting down of investments all over the world will certainly result in distress to most organizations, thereby, threatening the existence of businesses to the extent that if there is no quick intervention, most of these organizations would go into ruin.

According to the report, governments in most European countries have been able to read between the lines, thereby enacting new laws that will make it difficult, if not impossible for China to buy into such businesses. Despite our relationship with China, which most public spirited Nigerians do not accept as mutually beneficial because of its skewed nature, is the National Assembly ready to rework the Nigerian statute to safe businesses in our domain from Chinese invasion.

The report further posit that China, that is the major exporter of Coronavirus which has rendered the economy of the world prostrate seems to be profiting from its consequences by scouting for distressed assets all over the world particularly in Spain, Italy and other European countries. With the comic alertness of Donald Trump, the United States of America is a no go area and the Asian brothers of China are equally ever alert.. Therefore, the vicious game may shift its goalpost to Africa ..

The report alleged that Chinese companies are already making huge profits from Coronavirus appliances such as face masks, ventilators and so on and that European governments are making new foreign investment rules to protect vulnerable businesses in those countries.

If this is the lot of Europe, one wonders what will be the effect of this deft moves on the economy of less productive, essentially monolithic economy like Nigeria. Are we up to the mark in strategies or are we waiting like lambs been led to the slaughter slab for China to plunder our God given endowment to feed its own largely pauperized population? Why in the first instance have we decided to share a dinning table with the devil when we know that there is no long spoon in our kitchen cabinet?

We are grateful to God that, Lagos State that bears the heaviest burden of the Coronavirus pandemic in the country has succeeded very well in curtailing the scourge using its manpower which is at per with any best that you can think of in the world. The profile of its Governor and the Commissioner for health and their unrelenting efforts attest to this fact.

Prof. Ojikutu wrote from Faculty of Management Sciences, University of Lagos.