“THIS PANDEMIC NA SCAM”

THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE NIGERIAN POPULACE

“Bike! Bike!!”, I shouted, amidst the blaring horns and the yelling conductors. The heat from
the sun was piercing my skin. “Mtcheew…I need to get out of this place fast fast before I black
finish o”, I said to myself. Two bikemen (motorcycle riders) scurried to where I stood. “Oga
where you dey go?” One said, in a tumbling enthusiasm that was apparent in his poise. “Fine
boy come make we dey go, sharp sharp”, the other said, with a smug smile which, together with
his sun glasses, gave him a rather sinister appearance which put me off. Hopping on the bike of
the first man, “Umagwa junction, how much”? I said.

About two minutes into our journey, we approached Umudimma community market. A small
crowd had gathered, as two men exchanged blows and punches. While some tried to separate the
men, and pacify the quarreling parties, others watched on eagerly, apparently curious on whom
would knock out the other. As my bikeman tried to meander through the crowd, I thought to
myself, “With all these covid-19 scare, people still gather over matters of petty significance such
as this? When would the exaltation of the ridiculous end in this country”? The bike man retorted,
“My brother forget that big grammar wey you dey talk for mouth, this pandemic na scam!”

I was startled. I thought I said that in my head. Well, curious about his position, I probed on.
“How do you mean”? I asked. He replied, “na Jubreel, and him people wey just wan use this
thing thief money for the country. Forget that thing”.

“Jubreel? Who on earth is Jubreel?” I asked. “You no sabi sey Buhari don die? The person wey
dey there them clone am, and him name na Jubreel”, he said, with a remarkable certainty.
Adjusting his side view mirror with one hand, he shot me a shocking glance, as if to sey, “how
on earth don’t you know this?”

Confused, I asked again, “But this virus started in Wuhan, China, haven’t you heard the news
and seen the thousands of people that are dying in Italy, America and many other countries”?
Amidst what seemed like a mocking laughter, he replied. “My brother I say leave that thing ehh,
we sabi these things. All this things na politics them dey play”.

“So you mean there is no such thing as Corona Virus”? I asked, determined to end the
conversation for good if he answered in the affirmative. He paused, searching for the right
words, “oboy…see…make I tell you…even if the virus dey, e never reach this country. Abi you
don see any person wey don die for this country sey na corona kill am? Forget!”

“Well as a matter of fact, I have a family friend who died of the virus just last week here in Port
Harcourt”, I said, half excited that I had finally convinced him. “Mtchew…abeg leave that
thing,” he replied. Blaring his horn, for the bus conductor who stood in front of our bike to leave
the road, he raised his voice as he continued, “Maybe na another thing sick am. How you take
even sabi sey na corona? Abi you be doctor? Leave that thing. Corona na scam. E no dey this
country. I sabi wetin I dey talk.”

Remaining silent, I adjusted my glasses, checked my wristwatch and then stared blankly into the
distance. “There is no convincing this one”, I thought to myself.

Most of the rejections of the existence of the COVID-19 pandemic by the Nigerian populace are
basically hinged on three (3) arguments.

1. No one has seen anyone who has seen anyone who knows anyone that has died of the
virus.
2. The figures released by the NCDC do not make sense
3. It is a plot by the government to steal more money

While some people argue for the third position purely, others – the vast majority – hold one (or
even both) of the first two positions, and conclude their argument with the third point. Let us
jump on these points one after the other.

1. No one has seen anyone who has seen anyone who knows anyone that has died of the
virus.

This argument is levied by most people I have had this conversation with. It draws impetus
from two basic points:

- That despite the claims that the virus has spread sporadically, proponents of this view
maintain that, most people still don’t know anyone who has been confirmed to have this
virus, and perhaps is in quarantine. All the information and reports most people have are
gotten either from TV, radio or the internet. There is hardly anyone with an accurate
firsthand account of the virus.

- That even if there are actually those who claim to have seen someone with the virus, they
might just have seen someone with regular malaria symptoms, and so owing to the craze
of the moment, conclude that such a person has the virus. “So you mean sey person no
dey fit sick malaria again? Normal cough or sneeze person go sneeze for bank or bus,
everybody go start to dey shout corona corona”, someone once said to me in the heat of
an argument.

This argument is as ridiculous as it is illogical. It is similar to holding the idea that simply
because one hasn’t seen a dead body in reality, nor has any of his friends, then it is safe for such
a person to conclude that there is no such thing as death. A preliminary understanding of the
rudiments of logic would demonstrate that such an argument is faulty of all the errors in
judgment that accompany such an Inductive leap.
Secondly, it is safe to insist that since this argument is based merely on the testimony of a
handful of persons, the testimony of those who deny the existence of the virus, is at worse, as
good as that of those who affirm its existence. However, this account is not full and complete.
This is because while the position of the latter is founded on scientific evidence, that of the
former is not. For this reason, and following the principles regarding the ethics of belief (the
epistemological principle that one is only obliged to believe that which he has justified evidence
for), it is not just erroneous, but is also morally illicit to hold this position.

2. The figures released by the NCDC do not make sense

Another argument levied against the reality of the Corona virus in Nigeria is hinged on the idea
that the statistics recorded and presented by the NCDC pertaining the number of cases recorded
daily are erroneous at best, and fraudulent at worse. That is to say, those who hold this view
believe that these NCDC figures are either entirely false or exaggerated. This position is
reinforced by two sub-arguments:

i. That despite the huge number of cases allegedly recorded, most people still have no
idea who these people are. (Clearly, this argument looks very much like the first).
ii. That the numbers are far too fantastic to believe (this draws from the instances when
the NCDC claimed to have discharged about ten thousand people in one day, despite
their confirmed lack of infrastructure and equipment).

This argument, unlike the first, is quite popular among Nigerians, both the educated and the
uneducated alike. Many people believe that the broad acceptability of this position confirms the
fact that it holds at least some level of truth.

3. It is a plot by the government to steal more money

Arguments 1 and 2 lead to and imply Argument 3. That is to say, the assertion that no one has
seen anyone who has seen anyone who knows anyone that has died of the virus and that the
figures released by the NCDC do not make sense, necessarily lead to the conclusion that it is all
a plot by the government to embezzle some more money.

This argument was given fresh motivation when after Governor Wike of Rivers State had been
denied palliative funds by the government, in just a few days, the number of recorded cases in
Rivers State allegedly doubled. This pattern repeated itself several times in many other states in
Nigeria, until virtually all the states had massive numbers of cases, and Nigeria recorded the
second highest number of cases in Africa within just a month!

The most dramatic and perhaps seemingly efficient point that sustains this argument is the
infamous NDDC probe of 20th July 2020. During one of the sessions, it was presented that an
estimate of ₦1.5 billion was used as palliative fund among staff. BBC News Online of 10 th July
2020 presented the breakdown in this way: One staff member received ₦10 million, two others
received ₦7 million each, three - ₦5 million each, 148 – ₦3 million each, 157 – ₦1.5 million
each, 497 – ₦1 million each, and about 464 cleaners and security personnel received ₦600,000
each.

This is just one out of the many cases of apparent fraud and embezzlement of funds all in the
name of COVID-19 palliatives, or medical equipment. Several more of such cases emerge that
startle Nigerians. One of such is the claim that over 3.6 million households received the Federal
Government palliatives all around the country, and yet most people claim to have received
nothing. Another is the claim that an estimate of over ₦500 million was used to feed school
children during the heat of the pandemic.

Putting it all Together

All these seem to strengthen the arguments of those who believe that some fishy business is
going on, and that the entire COVID-19 scare, especially in Nigeria, is a well calculated lie.

We cannot fully say whether or not these claims are true. But what we can say for certain is that
the COVID-19 pandemic is a real thing, even in Nigeria. This is a fact that cannot be reasonably
dismissed. However, proponents of these diverse views seem to have good reason to hold them,
as all available evidence suggest that something is just not right in the way the Nigerian
Government go about the management of affairs concerning the pandemic. If and only if one is
speaking from this point of view, then one is justified to say that this pandemic na scam!

Kennedy Asuru
16 - 10 - 20