By Richard Peters

I woke up today soaked in the water of sadness. My heart bleeds and my eyes could not hold the hot water that sneaked from my eyes as I blinked ,What is happening to our world, was the question popping out from my mind, which before now had worn the garment of melancholy, chiefly necessitated by event of late.

While on this mental flight, the speech delivered by His Excellency, Gov. Udom Emmanuel when he formally ordered the lockdown and border closure in the state tiptoed to my memory. He saw the future yesterday, how I wish we adhered to his admonition, some things would have been avoided. In that sober speech which was the aftermath of the first five confirmed cases of coronavirus in Akwa Ibom state, the state chief executive posited thus:
"We may have been bruised but we will not be broken. While hoping for the best, we will prepare for the worst, but be rest assured that whatever that worst may be, it will not break us. I am hopeful, that with God on our side, this pandemic shall pass and we will be able to say that we have counted, and not one of us is missing."

We may have been bruised in the sense that we had recorded 5 cases of the virus which necessitated the lockdown for contact tracing. This was also to help citizens to remain in their homes, as a precautionary measure to stall the spread of the virus.

Sadly, many have not adhered to this admonition, and may pay for it, albeit in unimaginable ways. Today, some people still believe that covid-19 is a scam; perhaps government's way of "eating" money. Hence, precautionary measures are thrown to the mud. But we all know that in the court of law, ignorance is not an excuse.

I had an interaction yesterday with one of my friends in Germany. The story from there is heartbroken. The death toll is unimaginable. Doctors now decide who to attend to and who not to attend to. Infact, the position one occupies in the society determines if the medical doctors attend to the person, as hundred of thousands of people embraced by the dreaded hand of coronavirus are brought to hospitals. Of course, the doctors there cannot attend to everyone, as the sick are more than the medical personnel could handle.
The story is not different from what is happening in Italy, Spain, The Us and other countries of the world. Because the number of cases in Nigeria is not as much as the countries mentioned above does not mean that we should not prepare for the worst while hoping for the best.

In times like this, participatory and collaborative effort is demanded. It is not only the duty of government to prevent the spread, the citizens have a greater part to play. Infact, the attitudes of the citizens determine the success or failure of government in this global fight. Most of the countries worst hit by the pandemic are countries that the citizenry ignored and flouted government orders as it concerned adhering to precautionary measures from health experts. Today, the citizens are more like children suffering from convulsion, and helpless as asthmatic patients drenched in the rain. It is at this point that many of them wished they had obeyed the rules handed down by government.

Are you waiting for the worst to happen before you adhere to government orders and precautionary measures by health experts? Do you still think that coronavirus is a myth? Are you just behaving carelessly so that you would blame the government tomorrow?

This is the time to save your world. Some countries no longer control the number of deaths associated with covid-19, as the pandemic spread like wildfire. Covid-19 is a respecter of no one. He doesn't recognise one's position in society and is not tamed by one's ethnicity, religion, age or intelligence. The only language that the virus recognises for now is "Stay at Home".

It is your responsibility to report any symptom to appropriate authority, as government has given phone numbers you can call for free.

We must be proactive by ensuring that we practise social distancing and adhere strictly to precautionary measures by medical experts. We have not yet seen the worst, but we can prevent it. We can avoid experiencing what is happening in Germany, Italy and other parts of Europe by our actions today. What is happening there is better imagined than experienced. Why we are hoping for the best, let us prepare for the worst. A stitch in time saves nine.