Lawlessness appears to have become a staple in the country. Nothing underscores this more than the reckless breach of the interstate lockdown and night curfew guidelines agreed to by the federal and state governments to mitigate the spread of the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. This disorderliness should be swiftly addressed to avoid this health monster, still at its infant stage, from overwhelming the country.
The security lapse that breeds this anomaly exposes the underbelly of the police and policing here. Across many states, especially in the South, the illegal influx of people from the North has sparked bedlam. Under the gradual easing of the lockdown protocol, those on essential services such as vehicles conveying food items, medical personnel, bank workers and pharmaceuticals, enjoy exceptions. The wilful and unrelenting smuggling of almajiris (male and female) in droves, hidden inside containers and trucks, covered with tarpaulin heading to the South from the North is however ominous and should be curbed.
The illegality thrived despite the initial lockdown, but has now accelerated by the recent relaxation of restrictions. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State was piqued by this and other abuses at the weekend, and warned that he might be compelled to re-impose a total lockdown, which the state was subjected to for five weeks in coordination with the Federal Government.
In announcing the imminent gradual easing of the lockdown, the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), had implored Nigerians to take full responsibility for the COVID-19 containment by observing all the health and safety protocols issued by the Presidential Task Force and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. The plea was predicated on reports from the NCDC that confirmed new cases of the virus were mostly from interstate travels. With insufficient number of molecular laboratory centres for testing, isolation centres, beds and test kits, public behaviour that aggravates the pandemic’s curve is a danger to all. The country’s fatality profile from the virus should not match those of the United States, Italy and the United Kingdom before Nigerians begin to appreciate the Sisyphean challenge staring all in the face.
Yet, going back to full-blown lockdown will hurt everyone more. Foreign Affairs, an online magazine, says there are good reasons for countries to begin easing their restrictions. “It will take several years to tally the total number of deaths, bankruptcies, layoffs, suicides, mental health problems, losses to GDP and investments, and other costs attributable not just to the virus but to the measures used to fight it,” it says. “It should already be obvious, however, that the economic and social costs of lockdowns are enormous: estimates from the OECD suggest that every month of pandemic-related restrictions will shrink the economies of advanced countries by two per cent.” All over the world, unemployment is rising to levels unheard of since the 1930s -fuelling political backlash and deepening social divisions in many countries.
Enforcement of guidelines on restrictions remains the best option to ride out of the pandemic. It is argued that lockdowns are simply not sustainable for the time that it will likely take to develop a vaccine. Letting up will reduce economic, social, and political pressures. It may also allow populations to build an immunity that will end up being the least bad way of fighting COVID-19 in the long run. Foreign Affairs argues that much about the disease remains poorly understood, but countries that are locked down now could very well face new and even more severe outbreaks down the road. Therefore, the lack of respect for COVID-19 regulations on interstate lockdown should be viewed seriously.
The Chairman, Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, while denouncing the violations, stressed that “state governments and security agencies have, however, been advised to enforce the measures rigidly and violators will be prosecuted.” In rationalising the interstate lockdown abuses, police spokesman, Frank Mba, attributed them to the resort to using bush tracks and provincial routes to escape police surveillance by the drivers. Such explanation could resonate in intra-state travels involving commercial buses, certainly not with heavy trucks that ply the highways from Zamfara, Katsina, Adamawa, Sokoto and Borno states, down to the southern states.
The bad eggs in the police system should be shown the way out of the Police Force. Because of lack of confidence in the police, Task Forces to enforce interstate travel restrictions have sprung up in many states. The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, by this inherent indictment of his officers, should act right away.
Any states they are found, the almajiris constitute health hazards as the high number of them who have contracted coronavirus demonstrates. As a result, governors should comb their domains and flush them out. While some of the migrants have been uncovered, many of them may have entered undetected, still lurking dangerously under bridges and uncompleted buildings.
It is the responsibility of northern governors, who last month resolved to ban the almajiri system, and were part of the interstate lockdown agreement, to lock their boundaries to prevent these child beggars from fleeing southwards. They should be alive to the responsibility of keeping them in check and providing them with basic education.
