Jibrin Ibrahim
The disease, Covid-19, hit the world with a bang and one clear message. Neither ideology nor political system would determine the impact of the disease. Covid-19 is a litmus test for all governments on two issues – governance capacity and governmental empathy for citizens. We have seen good governance and effective measures as well as irresponsible governance leading to mass death and social crisis evolve differently in the United States, New Zealand, Burundi, Taiwan, United Kingdom, India, Brazil and Tanzania. The United States and United Kingdom are powerful and rich countries but their governments performed terribly on the COVID GOVERNANCE INDEX[1], both produced massive death and suffering not because they could not combat the disease as well as New Zealand, China and Singapore did. Covid-19 is a good assessment tool for good governance. COVID-19) is caused by a new strain of corona-virus (SARS-CoV-2) that has not been previously identified in humans and is therefore a real new test. It was first reported to WHO on the 31st of December, 2019 in Wuhan, China.[2]
Nigeria recorded its first COVID-19 case on 27th February, 2020 so it had a reasonable period of time to prepare itself. It does not appear that the head start helped much. The point should be made that governing complex emergencies is always a tough challenge because Nigeria is a federal State with 36 federating States and one federal capital territory so there are 38 levels of governmental response in the country. At the topmost level, the Federal Government of Nigeria, the Executive established a Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 to coordinate the national response. The Task Force is led by the most senior officer in Government, the Secretary of the Government of the Federation (SGF). The members are the Ministers of Health, Foreign Affairs, Interior, Aviation, Humanitarian Affairs Disaster Management and Social Development, Education, Information and Environment. Other members are the Department of State Security, the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) representative in Nigeria. There is also a National Coordinator for Coronavirus control with responsibility for ensuring cohesion and efficiency in the roles by the different agencies (Thisday Newspaper, 17 March 2010).
At the centre of the response mechanism is the NCDC-led national COVID-19 Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) to coordinate the national public health response. The NCDC from the very beginning launched an advocacy campaign #TakeResponsibility. This is a call to all Nigerians and residents in the country to join forces and be proactive in taking greater individual and collective responsibility in preventing and controlling the spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria. Across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, preparedness and response activities are coordinated through State Task Forces structured in a similar way to the Federal body. State Governors and Health Commissioners have responsibility for the operations of their task forces. They provide responsive measures, including management, drug and food assistance to victims of the Pandemic and the general public.
In Nigeria, there was a very slow start to the response of governments to the pandemic, both at the federal and state levels. The Federal Government appeared shocked at the emergence of the index case and immediately announced the suspension of executive committee meetings. This means the government stopped meeting at the crucial time that it needed to meet even more frequently than the weekly routine to plan its strategy of combat against the pandemic. The result was that while Nigeria’s index case emerged on 27th February, the first Federal Executive Council meeting (held virtually) did not take place until 13th May so the Executive Council did not meet for over two months. President Muhammadu Buhari’s first address to the Nation on the Coronavirus crisis was on March 29th 2020, over a month after the index case emerged. Clearly, the Federal Executive was slow to act and appeared overwhelmed by the pandemic’s emergence. Some States, such as Lagos and Kaduna, exhibited much quicker response and greater capability and professionalism in dealing with the crisis and have been able to mobilize resources within a short span of time to put effective structures on ground and also address some of the humanitarian needs of their people.[3]
Within weeks after the index case, there was a proliferation in the number of confirmed cases in the country. The growth was mainly related to people returning to Nigeria from countries with serious COVID-19 out breaks. A number of State governments started taking measures to curtail the outbreak of the pandemic. These measures include the closure of all schools, closure of state boundaries to prevent inter-state travel and the banning of congregational prayers in churches and mosques. All governments launched a campaign to promote social distancing and all social activities such as weddings, going to cinema houses, clubs and beer parlors were prohibited. A mandatory stay at home order was also declared in some states. At the Federal level, the Federal Ministry of Education ordered the closure of all tertiary, secondary and primary schools nationwide. The Presidential Task Force announced the suspension of all flights coming into the country from 15 countries where the COVID-19 pandemic was most pronounced. The Federal Executive through President Muhammadu Buhari, in his first Address to the Nation on the Coronavirus crisis on March 29th 2020, ordered residents of Lagos state, Ogun State and Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), to stay at home for an initial period of 14 days with effect from 11pm on Monday 30th March 2020. The order exempted hospitals and all related medical establishments as well as organizations in healthcare related manufacturing and distribution.[4] The President said the containment period was to provide the time to identify, trace, and isolate all individuals that have come in contact with confirmed cases of COVID-19.[5] There were no uniform measures taken for the whole country. The Presidential address also announced that all airports, land and seaports were also to be closed. Shortly afterwards restrictions were placed on domestic flights and inter-state vehicular movements. This was intended towards the management of the spread of the pandemic.
According to the Information Minister who reinforced what the President said in his earlier broadcast, the strategy of the Task Force was to curtail the virus through adopting the: “Trace, Test, Isolate and Treat”, method. “We are tracing people who came from countries with high prevalence of COVID -19 and those who have come into contact with them”. He said that those they contacted to monitor their health status, “if you have not developed any symptoms within the 14 days of your arrival into the country or coming into contact with some body that has it, we will let you go”[6].
To comprehensively address the attendant economic consequences that came with the above measures, President Buhari also set up another Committee on the 9th of March 2020, under the Chairperson of the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, the Minister of State of Budget and National Planning, the Minister of State of Petroleum Resources, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), as members, to recommend fiscal measures to address the economic disruptions occasioned by the COVID-19 Crisis. The Chairperson of the Committee in a Press Statement on the 6th April 2020, stated that Mr. President had approved a number of fiscal stimulus packages to address the health and economic challenges posed by the Pandemic. The measures include the establishment of a N500 billion COVID-19 Crisis Intervention Fund. The Finance Minister also announced the Government would approach the International Monetary Fund(IMF), the World Bank and the African Development Bank to raise some $7billion Dollars loan under these institutions rapid Financing Instrument (RFI), to finance the economic Stimulus Package.[7] The presidential measure stopping movements in Lagos, Ogun and the Federal Capital Territory came into effect on Monday, 30th March 2020 and lasted in a strict form for five weeks before it was softened from May 4. On April 27th, 2020, Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari declared an overnight curfew from 8 pm to 6 am across the country, as part of new measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19. This comes along with the phased and gradual easing of lockdown measures in FCT, Lagos, and Ogun States, which took effect from Saturday, 2nd May 2020, at 9am.[8] The restrictions on movement appeared to have had limited impact because carriers of the disease had travelled to many States of the country already and they were simply locked into the States that had travelled to.
The Spread of the Covid-19 across States
As shown in the table below, the NCDC has recorded confirmed cases of 19,808 cases across the country with Lagos State recording 8407 cases; FCT 1549 and Kano 1184. These three States[9] represent 56% of the entire cases in Nigeria. Attention has been given to the response by the executive in the States as follows:
Source: Compiled from numbers published daily by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control[10]
Lagos State
Throughout the pandemic, Lagos has been by far the most affected State as shown in the figure above. The lockdown in Lagos State, the commercial hub of Nigeria, began on the 30 March, and lasted in its initial state for five weeks. The same was done in Ogun State and the Federal Capital Territory (Abuja), being, at the time, the three areas with the majority of cases. On 4 May, the restrictions were eased essentially on economic grounds. President Buhari had noted that, as a result of the strict lockdown, “Citizens have lost their means of livelihood. Many businesses have shut down.” Thus, the Federal Government deemed it necessary to open the economy. These updated measures now allow people to move around more, but a curfew is in place from 10pm to 4am, and everyone must wear a face mask in public.
– Offices are allowed to be open, but they must shut by 3pm.
– Restaurants are also allowed to open but pick-up and delivery services are strongly advised.
– Commercial buses must reduce the number of passengers on-board.
However, the ban on large gatherings (social and religious) remains, with Governor Sanwo-Olu saying: “All places of worship are to remain closed to congregational services until further notice. This prohibition applies also to religious gatherings that may be conducted in homes, such as communal Tarawih prayers, our house fellowships.” A ban on non-essential interstate passenger travel and the closure of schools, bars and cinemas, remains in effect.[11]
Federal Capital Territory
The Federal Capital Territory is the second most affected zone in the country. There has been 11pm to 4am curfew in the zone and the measures taken are largely the same as in Lagos State. The lockdown also began on 30 March, and was eased on the same day of 4 May. Face masks are mandatory in public and there is a ban on non-essential interstate travel. Businesses have been allowed to reopen provided they decontaminate their offices, are able to uphold social distancing, and provide hand sanitizers. While places of worship have been partially opened, schools have remained closed. Markets and Restaurants are allowed to operate too with same compliance measures enforced.[12]
Kano State
The situation in Kano State has been dramatic because the pandemic there was first noticed by journalists and observers who noted a sudden spike of what was initially called mysterious deaths in the capital city. Verbal autopsies carried out by some young doctors revealed that many of the people who died had symptom associated with Covid-19 which the State Government initially denied. The Federal Government then sent a delegation of medical personnel who confirmed that there was indeed widespread community transmission of the disease on-going. The Kano case revealed the reluctance of certain State Executives to accept evidence of the spread of Covid-19. In the case of Kano, there was inadequate preparation at the state level and control measures were ineffective. There was also lack of clear messaging to the citizens by the State government. Discordant tunes were also coming from some religious and community leaders, expressing doubts about the disease. The lockdown subsequently introduced by the State authorities and extended by the federal government was not vigorously enforced. There was seeming dissonance in the institutional framework for the coordination of the State COVID-19 control efforts, including crisis within the State Task Force after some of its members became infected. The only testing facility at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) at that time was temporarily closed after being contaminated and although additional testing centres have been opened, the testing capacity remains low. It was in this context that Kano stakeholders and community leaders came together to establish the citizen initiative – Kano Against COVID-19. Its objectives are to engage in advocacy and mobilization along the three tiers of government, within the community, the private sector, civil society and international partners, to combat the pandemic; identify the key problems and challenges that bedevil the efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the State; develop an intervention logic and set of practices that will address the problems and challenges identified; and finally, develop a framework on how to engage collectively to contribute to a better strategy of curtailing and containing the spread of the virus in Kano.[13]
The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the limits of Nigeria’s federal system. Most actions are taken by the Executives at the State level. In two of Nigeria’s States, Kogi and Cross Rivers, the governors have acted irresponsibly by declaring a priori that there will be no Covid-19 in the States. Both States have refused to allow significant testing, and live in denial of the disease. Action by the Federal Executive was slow and did not cover the country. The lockdown was very harsh as Nigeria is home to 100 million very poor people whose survival was based on daily work so hunger emerged as a major problem and the palliative measures taken by the governments did not reach a majority of the poor. Action on the pandemic has been focused on what the Executives have been doing as so far, neither the legislatures nor judiciary have taken any decisive action. The legislature (specifically the National Assembly) came close to becoming significant through its current attempt to pass into law, the Infectious Disease Bill which seeks to legalize the actions of government and the people in any future occurrence of pandemic such as the COVID-19. There has been massive opposition to the proposed law which was copy and paste from Singapore and is considered too draconian. There is very little possibility that it would be passed into law. The judiciary has played no role so far on the Covid-19 issue. On Thursday, 9th July, Nigeria crossed the line of over 30,000 infections. As the country has a population of over 200 million, the contagion has not spread as widely as it has done in countries such as Brazil. This however cannot be attributed to the effectiveness of executive nor legislative action.
[1] There is no covid-19 governance index I am aware of I am simply talking about the observable impact of poor or good governance on outcomes.
[2]https://covid19.ncdc.gov.ng/faq/#:~:text=The%20Government%20of%20Nigeria%20has,campaign%20themed%20%23TakeResponsibility.
[3]https://opinion.premiumtimesng.com/2020/05/08/kano-against-covid-19-by-jibrin-ibrahim/
[4]www.premiumtimesng.com29/3/2020
[6]Daily Trust Newspaper,11th April, 2020
[7]https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjhutm_pZPqAhXw0eAKHfY6D8gQFjACegQIBRAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fstatehouse.gov.ng%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F04%2FHMFBNP-Final-Press-Statement-on-Responding-to-the-COVID-19-06.04.2020-v.7.docx-1.pdf&usg=AOvVaw1SGM05O8GNUod-XPimCUU3
[8]https://nairametrics.com/2020/06/21/covid-19-update-in-nigeria/
[9] Assuming FCT is a State of its own.
[10] https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/1880738/embed?auto=1
[11]https://www.theafricareport.com/27773/coronavirus-nigerias-varied-responses-to-controlling-covid-19/
[12]ibid
[13]Ibid
