… Covid-19 brought the universe to her knees
The year 2020 will remain indelible in the annals of history given the dashed expectations, many challenges and unending possibilities brought about by the outbreak of the novel coronavirus also known as Covid-19; ELEOJO IDACHABA, BENJAMIN SAMSON, and TOPE SUNDAY write.
The year 2020 may have come and gone, but many Nigerians cannot forget the year in a hurry given harrowing experiences by individuals, families, businesses as well as governments at all levels.
Covid-19
The year would be remembered for centuries as the year of the novel coronavirus also known as Covid-19. The outbreak of the disease in the city of Wuhan in China shook the world like a tsunami. The disease, in a matter of weeks, took millions of lives, jobs, homes, and robbed many of their mental stability.
A Clinical Psychologist, Dr Udeh Ejike, has described the year as ‘a year of dark clouds’.
He said, “The Year 2020 is notoriously considered a disastrous year, a year of dark clouds. It is a year like none other in more than a century; a year most of those who lived through would pray and hope never to see its type in their lifetimes.
“The year 2020 is the year of Covid-19, a global pandemic that brought the entire universe to her knees. Ten months after the disease was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO), close to two million people had died from the novel coronavirus globally, with some 85 million infected.
“Even though there’s good news around vaccines to put us all out of our misery, scientists are not so sure when we would attain immunity in the wider population. In the interim, we are losing friends and family by the hour, businesses are shutting shop, poverty rates are rising especially in low income countries like Nigeria.’’
Economy recession
Similarly, the pandemic also posed a significant challenge to the Nigerian economy leading to another economic recession in less than four years with attendant job losses, inflation, rising poverty among others.
An economic analyst and a lecturer at the Department of Economics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Dr. Sam Amuka, in an interview with Blueprint Weekend said, “The impact of the pandemic on the Nigerian economy has been negative with the economy declining by 6.1 per cent year on year in quarter two of 2020, as lockdown measures taken to stem the spread depressed economic activity across the country.
“To provide some context, the oil sector contracted by 6.6 per cent year on year and 10.1 per cent quarter on quarter, which is the largest contraction since the attack on the country’s Trans-forcados pipeline in 2016.
“With the exception of agriculture, other key non-oil sectors slumped into near record contractions during the second quarter, as the Covid-19 containment measures significantly disrupted economic activity.
“The manufacturing, trade and construction sectors contracted by 8.8 per cent year on year, 16.6 per cent year on year and 31.8 per cent year on year respectively, driven by supply chain disruption, and collapse in purchasing power due to job losses and pay cuts.”
Adding voice to economic implication of the pandemic, a public affairs commentator, Pius Ejale, also attributed Nigeria’s economic woes to the pandemic.
He said in a chat with our correspondent, “For Nigeria, the Year 2020 challenged the country in so many other ways. We entered another recession, the unemployment situation became direr, and the inflationary trend became worse, mostly because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The naira also lost a lot of value against the US dollar.
“The Covid-19 triggered the biggest stock market crash since the Great Recession and great global economic crises never seen in recent times. The fall out of this is still ongoing and the impact yet to be fully known.
“The Nigerian economy is in tatters, and Covid-19 is still ravaging most lands. The heralding of the Covid-19 vaccines filled the air of the later part of 2020. However, the world is grappling with the logistical nightmare of implementing the vaccination across the globe whilst developing countries are still battling with the vaccination’s enormous cost implications.”
Education suffered
The educational institutions were negatively affected by the seven months forced holiday as a result of the lockdown to check the spread of Covid-19.
A teacher with one of the government secondary school in the FCT told our correspondent that it will be difficult to achieve a uniformed school calendar.
She explained that some states simply moved their pupils and students to the next class while others, including federal government owned school insisted that the second term examinations that was interrupted has to be completed before the commencement of the third term.
“As it is, when schools resume in January some school will be going into the second term while other will be commencing the first term of a session. How do you reconcile this?
“This coupled with the fact that most students in our tertiary institution have been at home for even much longer as a result of the industrial dispute ASUU has with the federal government.”
According to a school proprietor in the Jabi District of Abuja, Hajiya Asimawo Hassan, most private schools would never remain the same after the long stay-at-home period they had.
“Here in our school, we asked six teachers to leave because it became increasingly difficult for us to sustain the cost of keeping some staff. We thought that by now the palliative government promised to give private school owners would have come, but after waiting in vain, we had no choice other than to ask some staff to go so we can manage the operational cost,” she said.
An Ambrose Alli University graduate, Ehi Osunbo, who teaches Arts and Drawing in one of the private schools in Jahi, Abuja, told Blueprint Weekend that he was given a sack letter in September 2020, just when schools were about to resume because the school management could no longer retain me and some others whose subjects were no longer considered important to the pupils.
“I was shocked because all through the lockdown, I was vigorously involved in the online teaching, but we were not paid. Now, when it was time to return to school, the school management decided that I should look for work elsewhere.
“Although, I have secured another job, it is not as good as the previous one. What is painful for me is that I intended to settle down in marriage at the end of this year, but had to shift the plan till sometime next year because the whole plan seems to have gone with the pandemic,” he stated.
Also, another school teacher, Amarachi Jacob, told this medium that she lost her job in September due to the inability of her former school to retain her despite her commitment.
“About five of us were asked to leave because the school management felt they could not pay. This wasn’t because we were found wanting, but the proprietor was inevitable due to the exigencies of the times,” she lamented.
Hospitality industry worst hit
Also, many hotels in the country had their fair share of the effect of the pandemic on their businesses, and were forced to relieve most of their workers of their jobs in order to cope with the economic situation of the country.
According to a hospitality and tours consultant, Mr James Onimeh, the industry was worst hit judging from the number of employees of hotels affected by the Covid-19 lockdown.
He said, “No sector was badly affected like the tours and tourism industry. A number of hotels across the country that survived through the lockdown are currently operating below capacity because of low patronage from tourists and fun seekers.
“How do you expect a hotel to retain the personnel it cannot afford to pay? It would certainly have an adverse effect on the guests; so to avoid such unpleasant situations, what many hotels do is to reduce their staff strength in order to cope with the moment.”
The same also goes for gardens and parks where Abuja residents, in particular, had delighted to relax, as a good number of them shut down and have remained closed following the lockdown.
Many young men and women who derive their daily income from such places are now without sources of income.
#EndSARS
No doubt, 2020 also witnessed one of the most organised and sustained protests in the history of Nigeria tagged #EndSARS.
On October 1, 2020, Nigeria marked 60 years of its independence but eight days after the celebration, the #EndSARS protests broke out nationwide and recorded several casualties, and wanton destruction.
The protests, observers insist were consequences of the youths not being given the listening ear by the government’s officials.
Speaking on the protest, Raymond Oise-Oghaede said the protest was beyond ending SARS and Police brutality but more about accumulated pains and hardship as a result of bad governance.
“There is no gainsaying the fact that the nationwide protest with the theme #EndSARS is unprecedented in the history of our country. The protest was initially centred on the demand for the scrapping of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) (a unit of the Nigerian Police Force) for alleged plethora of unprofessional conducts/activities by some of its men over the years. After days of persistency, the government responded through the Inspector General of Police who announced the disbandment of the unit. Subsequently, another squad known as the Special Weapons And Tactics Team (SWAT) was established.
Other security challenges
Also, despite the havoc wrecked by the Covid-19 the activities of Boko Haram insurgents, marauding bandits, cattle rustlers and kidnappers also took a toll on Nigeria and Nigerians.
While the Boko Haram insurgents struck as usual, concerns were more on the bandits, cattle rustlers and kidnappers, whose operations spread across the country.
On November 28, 2020, scores of farmers in Borno states, who were said to be working in their farms, were massacred by the suspected Boko Haram insurgents in Zabarmari Village in Jere Local Government Area of Borno state.
While sympathising with the families of the dead, the governor of Borno state, Professor Babagana Zulum, who led other top members of his government to attend the burial, said: “It is disheartening that more than 40 citizens were slaughtered while they were working in their farmlands. Our people are in very difficult situations, they are in two different extreme conditions.
‘‘On one hand, they stay at home, they may be killed by hunger and starvation, on the other, they go out to their farmlands and risk getting killed by the insurgents. This is very sad.’’
Also, the abduction of over 300 school pupils in one of the schools in Kastina state in the second week of December marked a major security set back; however, some of the pupils were freed after a few days.
Aside the abduction of the school pupils in Kastina, the age-long Zango Kataf crisis also resurfaced in the year under review with over 89 people reportedly killed and 2000 displaced.
Speaking on the security situation in the country, a security expert Mr. Austin Ameh said: “The security challenges got worse towards the end of the year with the November 28, Kwashebe Massacre during which 110 civilians and peasant farmers had their throats slit by Boko Haram terrorists.
“It is on record that Boko Haram killed more than 363 civilians between January and September 2000. Amnesty International is on record to have said that Boko Haram has killed over 10,000 civilians since 2011.
“There was also the daring abduction of more than 300 schoolboys by bandits on motorcycles after storming the all-boys Government Science School in Kankara, Katsina state. Luckily, the students were freed unharmed after some gruelling days in captivity.
“The security threats of terrorists and bandits were complimented by the heinous work of kidnappers, armed robbers, ritualists, and other criminals which have created an atmosphere of angst amongst most Nigerians. Nowhere in the country is safe from hoodlums who are effectively holding the country to ransom.
Journalists not left out
2020 also left a sour taste in the mouth of media organisations as a total of 50 media workers were reported to have been killed worldwide while performing their duties this year, mostly in peaceful countries.
According to the Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a non-governmental organization in its report on Tuesday, among journalists killed in 2020, 45 were professional reporters, one deemed non-professional and four were media workers.
Also, 42 of those on the RSF list were “murdered or deliberately targeted,” and the rest killed while performing their work.
“Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has tallied 50 cases of journalists killed in connection with their work in 2020 (from January 1 to December 15),” the organisation said in its annual report.
The report stated that the number of journalists murdered in war-torn countries has been declining for four years, while on the rise in peaceful zones.
On average, seven out of every 10 cases of killed reporters occurred in non-war zones this year, the report went on.
The RSF specified that the number of journalists murdered while working over the decade has risen to 937.
It also noted an increase in killings of reporters investigating sensitive issues, including crime groups activities, corruption, and ecological challenges.
Additionally, civil unrest and protests in different parts of the world have contributed to violence against the media in 2020, the report said.
The RSF has also listed the top five countries posing a particular threat to the media in 2020, including Pakistan, Mexico, Afghanistan, India, and Iraq.
The RSF has been giving annual reports on the numbers of killed media workers worldwide since 1995.
Other deaths
The year 2020 also saw the exit of two titans in the world of literature and the arts; J. P. Clark, and Chukwuemeka Ike. In the music world, Victor Olaiya and Majek Fashek also joined their ancestors.
Similarly, political heavyweights like Abiola Ajumobi, Ismaila Isa Funtua, Abba Kyari and Buruji Kashamu all left for the great beyond.
The recent death of media mogul and publisher of Leadership Newspapers, Sam Nda-Isaiah, was one of the low points of the year 2020. The list goes on and on.
Lesson learnt
On the lessons learnt from the events of 2020, a veteran journalist and columnist Reuben Abati said, “It is a year in which nature humbles mankind. One of my teachers, many years ago, in a 400 level course titled ‘Theatre and Mankind’ told us that man considers himself the most wondrous being on earth and regards himself as Master of the Universe, but repeatedly, man realizes that he is really not as important as he projects himself to be.
“Again and again, nature humbles him. The environment reminds him that he is not a master but a gnat. The more this happens, the more man struggles to master the Cosmos and it is in that eternal struggle that we find the substance of epistemology and wisdom, and human drama.
“This is the story of our lives, and it was played out, poignantly, in the year 2020. In that year, that now ends; we were confronted with the uncertainty and the vulnerability of our lives. We are now at a point where scientists are saying they have found a vaccine. The drama of 2020 was that of man’s conflict with a pathogen, and as we were taught, this is just the beginning of another end. Man’s place in creation is that of Sisyphus and Atlas. If anyone believes that our struggle is over, he or she misses the point.
“Our world of work has changed forever. Before the disaster that was 2020 happened, we all enjoyed the thrill of the daily commute to and from our work places. Even when we spent hours on traffic-congested roads, we loved it.
“In 2020, we were told to stay at home and work from home. And just like that: the world of work changed forever, with analysts telling us that human beings tend to be more productive when they work in isolation, from home. Tech companies have gained a lot. Stock markets have appreciated. Coronavirus may have robbed us of aspects of our lives, but it has also shown us new possibilities. What does tomorrow hold, then?
“Also, the year 2020 showed that leadership matters. We saw through the year, good and bad leaders in terms of how they managed the Covid-19 challenge. Good leaders help society. Bad leaders punish and frustrate the people.
Leaders must be accountable to the people
On the way forward from the events of 2020, Ejike said, “If Nigerians must get it right in the Year 2021, we should take a holistic look at our situation, processes, and methods.
“We should start by ensuring that people are held accountable for their actions and inactions. In any society where there are no consequences for wrongdoing or inefficiency, there is an incentive to do the wrong things, and there will be no reason for deterrence. Punishment is the natural response to irresponsibility by those we entrust collective assignments.
“Every Nigerian life must matter, and whoever is responsible for a Nigerian death should be made to face the music. There should be political responsibility as well. When policies and strategies do not work, those who are responsible should be removed. It should not matter whether they did their best. It should matter that their best was not good enough.
“This is how our country should work. This is how sane societies operate. Nigeria cannot be different. We should never accept mediocrity or ineptitude. We have the human and material resources to make a great country. What lacks is our ability to do simple things, to focus on what is essential. We are perpetually sequestered in political and ethnic disputes and rancour while the nation bleeds, and the helpless, hapless, and increasingly hopeless citizenry are continually traumatised.”
Recovery plan needed
On his part, the Ooni of Ife and the Co-chairman of the National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria, (NCTRN), Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, has asked Nigerians to always focus on issues that strengthens togetherness rather than issues causing disharmony.
Ooni Ogunwusi stated this in his Christmas/ New Year message by his Director of Media & Public Affairs, Comrade Moses Olafare.
He said that the time has come for Nigerians to sustain the unity and peaceful coexistence among themselves regardless of tribe, religion and language differences
The Ooni, however, said that a clear economic policy was needed to revive Nigeria and that the federal government should aggressively pursue youth emancipation programmes and urgently unveil recovery plans and policies capable of alleviating the suffering inflicted on the citizens by the current economic crisis that has bedevilled the country.
Expressing his hope for a better economy in the year 2021, Ooni Ogunwusi pointed out that the current economic reality in Nigeria was disheartening, and that a clear economic policy is needed to revive the country.
He said, “We started this year 2020 with a lot of hopes and aspirations, particularly on the country getting it right economically towards the prosperity of the entire citizenry, but unfortunately Covid-19 crept in, sinking the economy in yet another recession.
“It happened and the only way out is for the government to take responsibility. Government policies must be executed in a way that standard of living of the citizens, particularly the youths is upgraded which will in turn reduce the crime rate in the country.”
