Interrogating President Muhammadu Buhari 3rd Broadcast On The Covid-19 Pandemic



Following the third broadcast of President Muhammadu Buhari on Covid-19 Pandemic, Dr. Tom Ohikere, a two time commissioner of Information of Kogi and APC Stakeholder, bared his mind on the implications of the broadcast.



"Fellow Nigerians, for the past four weeks, most parts of our country have been under either Federal Government or State Government lockdown. As I mentioned earlier, these steps were necessary and overall, have contributed to slowing down the spread of COVID-19 in our country."



In these four weeks, the Federal and State Governments have jointly and collaboratively worked hard on how to balance the need to protect health while also preserving livelihoods, leveraging global best practices while keeping in mind our peculiar circumstances.



According to his speech the government have assessed how our factories, markets, traders and transporters can continue to function while at the same time adhering to NCDC guidelines on hygiene and social distancing and how our children can continue to learn without compromising their health.



We reviewed how our farmers can safely plant and harvest in this rainy season to ensure our food security is not compromised. Furthermore, we also discussed how to safely transport food items from rural production areas to industrial processing zones and ultimately, to the key consumption centers.



All these measures according to the President was to develop implementable policies that will ensure our economy continues to function while still maintaining our aggressive response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These same difficult decisions are being faced by leaders around the world.



But Ohikere said if quick intervention is not done regarding this pandemic and COVID-19 continues to devastate lives all over the world, agriculture and food systems come under critical strain. Recessions, food shortages, hunger and malnutrition are feared to be likely, with grave impact on vulnerable communities in developing countries like Nigeria .



Agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa is largely dominated by smallholder farmers, many of whom already farm under severe strain of climatic variability and resource constraints. With the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on food and nutrition security is expected to be harsh, poverty and malnourishment could become even worse. Nigeria must guard the basic operations required to produce, trade and supply food. Digital agriculture offers a glimpse of hope, he said.

The progress made with digitalising agriculture in Africa over the years can be used as a strong foundation for new initiatives to alleviate the COVID-19’s impact on food security.



While speaking alternately, Ohikere said government should explore the traditional medicine while still await the WHO to come up with a vaccine. "Traditional medicine is an important component of the health care system of most developing countries. However, indigenous knowledge about herbal medicines of many Nigerian cultures has not yet been investigated or efficiently maximised.



Many hope traditional herbal medicine research will play a critical role in this global health pandemic but it appears that relatively modest investment is been done in this regards compared to the overall pharmaceutical industry; however, it raises interesting ethical questions, some of which are not faced in more conventional drug development. Cases like these present challenging questions related to the role of traditional herbal medicines in public health inview of the potentials and the resources available around us.



The novel coronavirus 'COVID-19' is shaking up the world like a massive earthquake. As researchers and scientists work assiduously to produce a vaccine that can serve as a panacea to the pandemic, traditional herbalists have also come forward with solutions and this solutions I think they should give it a try.



In Nigeria, the Àdìmúlà Ifẹ̀, the king of the Yorùbá people, Ọọ̀ni Adéyẹyẹ̀ Ẹniìtàn Ògúnwùsì, Ọ̀jájá II, believes that natural herbs can cure COVID-19.

In partnership with YemKem International, an alternative medicine company, the Ọọ̀ni (king) is working to create an herbal therapy to be mass-produced and packaged for sale.

The concoction is based on a mix of bitter leaves, neem leaves and seeds, sulfur, black pepper and cloves that are traditionally used in Yorùbáland as powerful antioxidants to flush the system of harmful viruses.

The Ọọ̀ni, who doubles as the co-chairman of the National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria (NCTRN), took to Twitter in a series of tweets to announce his discovery, making claims that his unique herbal mix had been tested on himself and others with the coronavirus. In the March 30 tweets, the Ọọ̀ni calls on researchers to use natural herbs to produce a vaccine.

I think we should explore every opportunities to combat this terrible pandemic.



However as the federal government is making all implementable steps to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, some Nigerians still believe that the Federal Government committee on distribution of palliatives is not doing well. Many asked for more accountability in terms of the beneficiary households, how they were selected, what was given to them and how much had been spent so far in terms of food purchase and distribution as well as the Conditional Cash Transfer.



And talking about food bank and distribution, many are asking why the President is allowing the Nigerian Customs Service to be sharing to the public “poisonous” imported rice. Recall that the Comptroller General of Customs, Hamid Ali, had said that imported rice was not fit for human consumption as most of them were preserved with harmful chemicals while some had expired and could cause colon cancer.



And others said that while the Presidential Task Force is placing priority on food distribution and cash transfers, not much is being done about water supply. Yet, combating coronavirus is about sanitation and hygiene. We have been asked to wash our hands regularly for 20 seconds in running water, how can this be achieved in many communities without pipeborne water and other sources of clean water during this dry season?



There is also the security challenge this lockdown in many states has caused as criminal elements are now robbing many communities even in broad daylight.



Ohikere said that despite all these attendant challenges that the Covid-19 pandemic has brought upon mankind, we should be aware that we are in a crisis that is faceless but scary, its only the living that can criticise lets do well to protect ourselves from this enemy of humanity.



As the federal government is planning to lift the lockdown as a result of socio-economic challenges the lockdown has caused lets resonate on the world most severe pandemic in the history, the Spanish Flu of 1918. It lasted for 2years, in 3 waves, with 500million people infected and 50million deaths. Most of the fatalities happened in the 2nd wave. The people felt so bad about the quarantine and Social distancing measures that when they were first lifted, the people rejoiced in the streets with abandoned precautions. In the coming weeks, the 2nd wave occurred, with tens of millions dead. Lets not repeat history in the time of Covid-19 pandemic



Conclusively he said with the alarming wake of community infections suspected to be ongoing especially in Kano, it is of utmost importance that we adhere to the precautionary measures and take responsibility of our collective and individual wellbeing by obeying social distancing instead of taking risks whose repercussions is unimaginable, the irresponsibility of the few can lead to the death of many, he added.