Over the past few weeks, the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, has made its way into Nigeria and more cases are being discovered daily. The virus seems to be able to affect everyone with equal measure and no one, neither laity nor literati, seem to be safe anymore. Despite the deaths that are happening around the world and are probably going to be recorded in Nigeria, I am going to argue in this write up that this virus has its advantages and it provides us a unique opportunity to reassess ourselves and our culture as a nation.

For all the media attention and hype, coronavirus has a low mortality rate compared to other less infamous viruses like Ebola. A country so poorly equipped and prepared like Nigeria wont stand a chance if coronavirus had the mortality rate of Ebola. The good thing about Ebola then was that it usually killed the hosts quickly before they are able to infect too many people. But coronavirus hosts live long enough and become contagious before they even begin to show symptoms. With a mortality rate of 50% like ebola we would have been doomed. Thus is not the worst epidemic the world has seen. And we will likely see worse in the future.
As it is now the countries of the world are now reevaluating their models and are likely to adopt better strategies to be better prepared economically and socially in the the future. I think Africa will do the same too. And this brings me to the advantages.

1. Development and Economy
Our politicians will probably begin to see the need to develop the country now. The rate at which global supply chains have broken down should show that in the next global pandemic, a country of over 200 million people cannot be relying squarely on help from outside. Our economy should be able manufacture and refine our own resources to the best of our abilities. The amount of GDP lost to the virus would have been reduced if we had our own economic machinery and were not just a nation of consumers. Face masks, quality hand sanitizers, ventilators, hospital beds, medicines etc... would not need to be shipped from elsewhere here. We would have just quickly modified our economic output to go with the times.

2. Healthcare
This just goes without saying. Politicians who could just easily jet out of the country at the slightest sign of a headache cannot do so now. But countries like Cuba with far less of a population can actually export doctors. If this doesn't make us reconsider our position in the world, I dont know what will.

3. Science and Technology
Its is time to start emphasizing science and technology talents the way we do dance shows and BBN in this country. A country that can be riveted on a bunch of needless drama on TV but is unable to provide proper healthcare despite the thousands of biochemists, microbiologists and science lab technologists graduated each year is country headed for destruction and failure. We need science shows to attract the best and bright minds to science. We need better reward systems that ensure they keep on and contribute to the economy and country. We need to make them famous like we do every pointless and meaningless viral sensations on the internet.

4. Religion
Its no argument that religion is one of the most active areas of Nigerian life. Countless hours are spent on religious activities. Every street has a church and there is a mosque as soon as you turn a corner. Governments have invested monies better directed to productive outcomes to pleasing religious leaders and sponsoring pilgrimages. Religious activities have become perfidious in Nigeria that all manner of knaves and shady characters now find it easier to start a religious gathering rather than pick up a gun like it used to be in times past. Every indolent student who spent precious time in school on frivolous pursuits suddenly find God as soon as they graduate and the reality of their choices hit them. And as soon as they start their religious careers, they begin to teach all manner of impractical things.

Industries and warehouses, once teeming with products and goods, have been converted to church halls in most places. Thoughtless people go in their to pray for jobs and blessings without internal reflections as to how the jobs and blessings will come in the light of the economic drudgery evidenced by their presence in that building. I dare say all those miracles prayed for yearly at different crossover nights will continue to be elusive without a corresponding increase in the national economic output.

Even more instructive is the fact that religious leaders who used to predict outcomes in the past failed woefully at predicting this one. They could neither see the fall of oil, the fall of the naira, the global deaths by a virus and now, more importantly, they have been unable to heal a single sick and raise a single dead. And people have taken noticr. Most of them have now started thinking up new strategies to recover and distract from their failure to foresee it despite their claims to speak to God daily. Instead the world is relying on science. Italy had to import lots of doctors from Cuba. Not lots of pastors, imams or babalawos.

If we are going to improve as a nation and survive future similar challenges, our religious fervour most turn into economic and scientific fervour.

Conclusion
I believe this virus is a blessing in disguise. It is God, Mother Nature, The Universe or Providence (depending on what you believe in) telling us to get our acts together. Contrary to what some zealous people are parroting online, the world is not ending anytime soon. It didnt end during the ancient plagues, Spanish flu, two world wars and so it is definitely not ending now. Nor is this virus the sign of any religious apocalypse. Humans will survive it and life will continue. The question is what will we do with the lessons and experiences we got from it.

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femmyapson:


why are people this evil?
thousand of souls are dying and you are saying its a blessing in disguise..Since it is a blessing to you, MAY YOU ENCOUNTER FROM THAT GREAT BLESSING IN DISGUISE

Dunce. I am sure your comprehension skill is as worse as your reply suggests. It's a blessing in disguise because it should wake us up. We are even lucky it's not worse than this. So it should alert us of possibilities of dangers in the future and help us prepare for it.

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femmyapson:
Clotpole. use ur comprehension skill to find a good job..No wonda u were jobless or is it d peanut u re paid now dat is intoxicating u?? Compare charles pay with yours..Ode

Lol. Two things I can get. You are jobless and when you worked you were paid peanuts. Lol

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femmyapson:

Simpleton...I dont work for money, money work for me..im a forex trader(I make money while sleeping).so shut d crap ... Go fix ur life n get a good Job.. Stop disturbing charles for money

Lol. Mumu. We know your type. Forex trader my ass. Jobless mofo. Keep fooling yourself that money works for you. When your mate were reading in school you were fooling yourself. Your comprehension skills shows that your are intellectually handicapped so it is not surprising. Now that your mates have gotten good jobs in companies and you are unemployed you are fooling yourself with Forex trading and lying to cover your shame. Hahahaha.

See this unemployed clown. Do you know how many broke ass bastards I know that claim to be trading Forex? Lol. Get a life bro and stop lying to yourself.

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femmyapson:


kikikiki... "Do you know how many broke ass bastards I know that claim to be trading Forex"..
That sentence alone shows how poor and frustrated you are.. Birds of the same feather, flock together...I am not d cause of your poverty..
Because you and your friends are fucking broke doesn't mean someone else trading forex is broke too....Meanwhile, I bagged B.Eng in Mech Engr last year(dec23) and I will be 24 by june...What I have achieve in life.......wo young man. Don't let me boast.. I should be having this convo with a well to-do man...Not a jobless soul that is always ranting on nairaland(religion)...Baba send me ur cv..Let me find a job for you..I PROMISE YOU

Lol. Dunce. The same way I know you are a broke ass bastard claiming to trade Forex is the same way I know those people. How many people in your family has jobs that you want to find for someone else lol. I am not even in the same country with you so why will I want to send my CV to another hungry mofo in a country filled with jobless graduates claiming to do Forex? And when I was there I worked a very good job and saved enough to get me out. Now I am working here. Someone that couldn't feed during lockdown is talking about finding jobs lol.

Guy just chill. Some people pass you. Find a job to help yourself first. Stop using Forex as a cover because we instantly know you are a broke bastard lol. Look for another lie to use in the future. No need to thank me for the tips.

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femmyapson:


Afonja call people like you ODE...I dont have your time fool..if u re on telegram..Tell me your username, will add u to my forex group so you can see for yourself

What's this idiot talking about? What has Afonja got to do with this? Childish talk. Nincompoop defend yourself here. I also noticed you have deleted the foolish statement and link you posted on the other thread after I cured your dumbness by teaching you about anti-vaxxers.

Guy I will school you any day. Look at the boy that was still hustling SIWES in 2018 claiming to find job for people. Fake idiot. U don even graduate so? Lol. Small boy that has a lot to learn in life. Broke bastards always forming Forex traders. Like I said, some people pass you. You just have to chill and learn.

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femmyapson:


like I said I finishd schl last dec..One of the things the God you dont believe in can do in a short time...I am not where I was 2years ago...imagine trading market that has $5trillion dancing around each day....I dont have ur time fool...send ur telegram username and come see for yourself

So because I am in the West I can't know people living in Nigeria again and claiming to trade Forex but begging for coins later. And what makes you think I am struggling here? Are your own family members struggling abroad? Hahahaha. No wonder.

I have never seen so much delusion of grandeur in one person. Keep lying to yourself. Maybe if you lie long enough it will become true. Who gave a broke bastard like you access to $5 trillion? Your immaturity and ignorance is evident everytime you type. And that's all I need to know you are a lying idiot.

Even big high frequency traders don't claim to trade in a market of $5 trillion that is equivalent to the GDP of Germany. They have their specific niche markets they focus on. Guy keep exposing yourself.

The guys on Wall Street have specific portfolios and none of them boasts it is worth 5 trillion. Who is this ignorant idiot on Nairaland?

Which foreigner will give a goat like you that graduated in December his investment to trade for him when there are far more credible investment funds? Are you mad?

This guy is pitifully dumb. Can't believe this is the kind of person I am engaged with. Idiots that at not smart to tell sensible lies. You are finished.

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femmyapson:


Who is this fool that doesn't know that the Forex Market alone accounts for approximately $5.3 trillion a day....ODE

Which one are you focused on? You are talking of Forex as if you sell and own everything. If that's the case you are a dilettante at best and definitely a broke bastard.
Secondly no foreigner will give you his money to invest for him you this small boy. Stop lying. I will disgrace you today.

Nobody is coming to any fake telegram channel where you will be sharing spurious stats. Ogbeni defend yourself here. Fake small boy lying to make himself look good.

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femmyapson:

You think making money is measure by age??..Ode ni bobo yi sha..

You don't have money so why are you fooling yourself? You are hiding online and claiming to trade for foreigners when you go offline now it's back to begging your uncles for money. We know your type.

Trust me nobody who reads what you wrote believe you. I want you to know that. You are just a liar that has been exposed. All your boasting is for nothing. When you sleep tonight you will remember this conversation and remember your present state of affairs in life and wish that all you have posted here was true but be sad that it isn't.

In a few years you will find a real job and thank me secretly for telling you the truth.

femmyapson:

You think making money is measure by age??..Ode ni bobo yi sha..
since you are not coming..then shut d Bleep up..
drop ur whatsapp no..let me show you my trades..just to prove a point...

You mean to want to show me a simulation? So I should drop my number on an anonymous forum? Just tell me you want to beg me for money later.

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femmyapson:


This UNCLE is dense sha...You think I am like you?.. Become a slave and earn salary for years in the name of a WORKING?...have you seen anyone that became a billionaire earning SALARY ..This is d mistake i am not making...I AM NOT YOU...And i can't be you..Because you were broke when u re my age doesn't mean I will be broke too..I would have an airline and a Goldmine before 30...so shut d crap

Hahahaha. Small boy. It is always evident in the way they talk. Just boasting and boasting. Lol. All this children that don't want to learn how to walk but start running immediately.

Let me say a prayer for you and say amen if you dare. If you ever work for someone in your life, may you never make anything out of it even if it is the greatest company ever. As long as you work for someone there may all your effort be for naught.

Type amen if you are confident. Lol

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femmyapson:

uncle agbaya ni yin..

At least you recognise me as your uncle. One man's agbaya is another man's inspiration. Like I said I will school you and teach you wisdom.

femmyapson:


JESUS..
that is my boss

Don't worry. In a few years time you will appreciate the need to work somewhere and work for someone that is more experience to build experience and navigate business or corporate world. In a few years you will remember you of today and wonder how you could have been such a fool. Don't worry maturity will get to you eventually. And you will be wiser.

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Buliwyf:


Dunce. I am sure your comprehension skill is as worse as your reply suggests. It's a blessing in disguise because it should wake us up. We are even lucky it's not worse than this. So it should alert us of possibilities of dangers in the future and help us prepare for it.

I'm sure he didn't read the article.
But you, you just have time to reply him.
I'm laughing hard

The truth about it is that you're a lowlife scammer,you tricked me into trading with you last month and you've still not send me my money back,every day you beg for time but now you're totally ignoring my calls I won't stand for this,this is not your first time of scamming people but this will certainly be your last,I will fight you tooth to nail on this.6 people I've warned me against your scams including your boss but I gave you the benefit of the doubt anyways,now I am regretting it deeply