By: Abiodun Popoola

COVID-19 Lockdown: The Nausea of Staying Home

In line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s order on restriction of movement in Lagos, Ogun and Abuja (FCT) for 14 days, on Sunday night, 29th of March. However, other states of the federation have followed suit in the “Stay-at-home” order in curbing the rapid spread of the virus, which literally brings the whole nation under lockdown. It is noted that only people rendering essential services, such as health workers, manufacturers and distributors of health equipment and drugs, food and water companies were exempted from the order. Also allowed to move are workers in telecommunications, petroleum distribution, power companies as well as financial institutions and the media, amongst others whose jobs cannot be handled at home. In acknowledgment of the hardship the restriction order might cause, the federal and many state governments have been thinking of every possible palliatives of mitigating and cushioning the adverse effects of this compulsory curfew on the populace, as hunger could be deadlier than the virus.

Mixed reactions from husbands and wives all over the nation have trailed the “Stay-at-home” directive as many wives expressed delight, saying that it had strengthened bonding between them and their spouses. Well, some husbands expressed dissatisfaction and distaste at the development which some of them described as “house arrest”. A good number of wives are happy that the order has compelled their husbands to spend time with them and the children, thereby cementing the bond between the couples and family members. On the part of the husbands, they expressed bliss that the situation had kept their families together again, after sometime and they are enjoying the euphoria. Nonetheless, some insist that it has weakened financial strength, since many husbands earn their income through daily means. Before now, most men spend much time in bars and other recreational places after work daily and come home late at night, instead of returning home to their families in early hours.

Conversely, this might not be the same scenario in some places around the world. According to reports from some cities in China, the lockdown is not going down well, as many people were lined up to file for divorce. These chinese cities recorded “record-high” numbers of divorce filings in their histories. The USA, Canada, Germany among other countries have also recorded high numbers of divorce cases. One reason divorce rates have likely risen is due to self-isolation, as against the common reason of infidelity. The couples have been in confinement with each other for over a month, which evoked the underlying conflicts. They have been arguing more than usual because one person doesn’t take precautions exactly the way the other one wants them to, hence causing simmering disgust and tension. They tend to get into heated arguments because of something petty and rush into getting divorce.

Let's keep our fingers crossed and see how it pans out between Nigerian couples as we navigate through this period, even if it got beyond this 14-day restriction.