S
ocial Distancing is the new expression
on the lips of people around the
world. While the expression may
have gained new popularity because of
the Coronavirus, many have indeed been
practicing it in multiple forms way before
the Covid-19 Pandemic. Let us look at
Nigeria.
On the 28th of December 2019, it was the
double wedding of the son and daughter
of Kyari Mele, Group Managing Director
of the Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation and it was held in Maiduguri,
a part of North East Nigeria that has felt
the full brunt of the Boko Haram terror
group.
Nevertheless this was a day that will never
be forgotten in a long time. Some have
called it the day that it rained private jets
out of the sky. The guests that came for the
wedding were the cream of the society and
the airport was so overwhelmed that some
of the jets had to drop their guests and
then fly off to airports in other cities while
their bosses wined and dined.
The total jet count was above 40. Over
40 private jets owned by Nigerians - a
country seeking to borrow more and more
money from wherever it can get money to
borrow. A country that cannot feed itself
and cannot produce enough electricity to
power itself.
But, don't be fooled. For a country that
struggles with good roads and basic things
like sanitation it has one of the highest
Rolls Royce populations on the continent.
Now this is a country where most people
struggle to feed themselves on a daily basis
and where as they say, the struggle is real.
The corruption of the ruling class has
created a level of social distancing that
is only akin to a ticking time bomb. The
gap between the ruling elite and the
average Nigerian is such a wide distance
that indeed nothing in logical mental
projection has the capacity to bridge that
gap.
And then comes the Coronavirus.
Suddenly there was no more rich or poor.
There was no more educated or illiterate.
There was no more male or female. There
was no longer old or young. All there
exists in the world of corona is the human
race and corona seems bent on destroying
it as much as possible. Nothing in history
has revealed the meaning, implications
and consequences of the social distancing
described above than the coronavirus.
Social distancing as defined in public
health terms is to create a safe distance
between people so as to curb the spread of
a virus. The African elite however created
the distance but for entirely different
reasons. Through their corruption, they
created a gap between them and the rest
of the population that appeared only to
be surmountable by more corruption.
However, karma seems to be at work in
Africa as we speak and the chicken have
indeed come home to roost.
In four years the Buhari administration
budgeted about $14 million for the
Presidential Villa Clinic, $100 million
to renovate the National Assembly, $400
million on National Assembly Members,
and $500 million to upgrade the Nigerian
Television Authority with the hope of
scaling it up to compete the likes of CNN.
Do not ask me how many hospitals this
money could have built across the whole
country.
Hospitals? Why should they think that
far? At the slightest irritation they would
get on their private jets and travel abroad.
The Chief of Staff to the president, Mr
Abba Kyari is one of the most powerful
people to hold this office. Any one that
crossed his path has been cut down to size
and he appears to be a part of the cabal
that the first lady Aisha Buhari claims
is running the country instead of her
husband.
Then, Coronavirus showed up and the
world became a totally different place.
Children of the powerful were as lawless
as their parents. When coming back into
the country from their foreign schools, or
shopping escapades, instead of submitting
themselves to being tested, they would
bribe the airport health officials and
would immediately be allowed in with no
testing done!
Recent news from Nigeria shows that
Abba Kyari, a number of senators, national
assembly members and even a governor
have tested positive for Coronavirus.
Were this any other time, they would have
been on their jets out of the country for
sophisticated top dollar medical attention.
Well, these are not normal times anymore.
There is nowhere to go to as everyone the
world over is desperately trying to contain
the virus in the backyards of their different
countries. People like Abba Kyari and the
Nigerian political elite are now therefore
left with no choice but to be subject to the
dilapidated local healthcare systems that
they ignored. Wealth and power cannot
protect them against Covid-19!
While we practice social distancing and
try our best to keep that distance between
the haves and the have-nots, the reality is
that Coronavirus has bridged the social
distance gap created by the African elite in
a manner that nothing else has ever been
able to do. There is no private hospital for
the rich and a different one for the poor.
In Italy both the rich and the poor were
carted off in coffins by the military. Things
are so bad in a way that few on earth can
fathom!
The person that has a hundred million
dollars in a vault in his Abuja home in
cash is no different from the hustler on
the streets trying to make ends meet in the
eyes of Coronavirus. The world watched in
shock as it was announced that Britain's
Prince Charles had contracted the virus.
Then followed Prime Minister Boris
Johnson.
As the famous Tusker slogan once
proclaimed, Coronavirus ‘Makes Us Equal,
Has No Equal! For the first time the world
is faced with a virus that has no respect
for anything. No respect for money, no
respect for titles, no respect for religion,
no respect for positions. Royalty are falling
victim like your everyday people along the
streets. The distance between the rich and
the poor has been dramatically shortened.
The corruption of the ruling class has cre-
ated a level of social distancing that is only
akin to a ticking time bomb. The gap be-
tween the ruling elite and the average Ni-
gerian is such a wide distance that indeed
nothing in logical mental projection has the
capacity to bridge that gap.