COVID-19 - THE HARD TRUTHS FROM THESE TRYING TIMES
If someone were to tell me in
December 2019 that there would be an occurrence in 2020 which would lead to a near
collapse of the financial markets, nearly wipe out the global transportation
and tourism industry, put almost all the nations of the world on self-imposed lockdown,
I mean basically ground the entire world, I would have simply taken the person
for a clown, and if they were to insist on keeping their position, I would have
recommended a psychiatric evaluation. Such was the strength of my faith and
belief in the social, mental, scientific, and technological evolution of
humankind that I could not foresee all of us abandoning life as we know it and scampering
for shelter far away from other humans as much as possible.
Let us face it, the world will
never be the same again, even after we have been able to arrest the Covid-19
pandemic, but then, why should it remain the same? The current situation has
brought to the fore the indispensability of many of the issues essential to the
dignity and respect of humankind and how we have for a very long time paid
lip-service to them, and that was when we were not outrightly denying their
importance. Issues of affordable universal healthcare, social safety net, fit-for-purpose
public infrastructure, public programmes planning and execution, and social
integration as a whole have been totally neglected, and we can see in real time
how nations and societies are paying the price for their laxity. The US is
leading in Covid-19 death rates because their healthcare system is broken, and
they have a leadership gulf at the very top; Nigeria is struggling to stem the
tide because the health and social infrastructures are grossly inadequate and
we cannot even effectively give financial palliatives to those who need them
because we do not have genuine and verifiable data, and of course we have a
leadership gulf at the very top too; and the Northern European Countries are
handling the situation well because they have always been structured and they
have social safety nets such that they didn’t need to change much to cope with
the pandemic.
Brace yourself, even when the
Pandemic is over, the fear will remain for a long time, the fear not just for
ourselves, but for our kids, our siblings, our colleagues, for all our loved
ones altogether. What will be gone though is the trust of social existence –
partying, clubbing, even lounging in open spaces such as bars, beaches, and
malls will no longer be trustworthy, and we might find ourselves going back to
living like cavemen, coming out for sunlight once in a while. Of course, I kid,
but when you consider the fact that we were already talking about going to live
on Mars, and we already have shuttles which can make such trips multiple times like
your normal airplane, you will understand that going back to not being able to
gather in public or use public transportation to cover distances of a few kilometers
is like a thousand-year regression. Brace yourself, wearing of face masks will
be compulsory for months to come, at least wannabe ninjas will be happy at
these.
Now back to the hard truths from
this pandemic – we the masses have suffered the most and we will suffer more, unless we change our perception and approach to governance and leadership.
When we abdicated our responsibilities and left leadership and governance to demagogues,
charlatans, misfits and rogues, of course they cannot suddenly develop
competence during a crisis, they can only respond to the limit of their
abilities. We all have to be involved in choosing those who lead us, in
determining those who chart the course for the present and the future, in
keeping on their toes those we have surrendered our individuality and personal
preferences to in exchange for the social contract of having the freedom to
live and pursue happiness. We owe these duties to ourselves, and we will be
doing ourselves a great disservice if we leave those processes to the misfits
in the society. Most times, we delude ourselves with the fact that we can
create enclaves with others who have broken free from the inhuman drudgery of
daily struggle to make ends meet, and we have this false security once we go
into our gated estates, but the reality as highlighted by the menace of “the One
Million Gang” and “the Awawa Boys” during this lockdown is that no one is safe within
the vicinity of heartless and hungry miscreants who have been armed by
unscrupulous politicians. We are all in this together, and we have to fix it
together.
As a parting shot, now that you
know that everything is possible, it is now up to you to hold people around you
accountable when they tell you it is not possible. Governments all over the world
who said “Healthcare For All” is impossible are able to find funds to finance
this Public Health Emergency; Governments who said “Guaranteed Monthly Incomes”
are impossible are finding funds to provide Financial Palliatives to Businesses
and Citizens; Preachers who said you must come to Churches and Mosques to prove
your faith are now conducting ministrations online; Employers who would mandate
you to suffer through hours of traffic on daily basis to and fro the office are now encouraging you to
work from home and use Zoom and Skype; lovers who told you they were always
busy driving, in meetings, in open offices, and so on are now working from
home, so what is their excuse for not keeping in touch now? Think about it.
While thinking about it, continue to act safe and be safe. Together we will
beat the pandemic.
Thank You!
God Bless Us All!!
See You Next Time!!!
Twitter: @SirRash
Facebook: Rasheed SirRash Adewusi
One big question I've been asking myself is the best approach to holding a political position on this country, how do i navigate money politics? If we're going to make solid changes, we need to be a big part of government
ReplyDeleteI hope you will learn from our mistakes
ReplyDeleteGreat read... I smell a book coming from your desk soon!
ReplyDelete