₦airaland Forum

SEEN

.

By: Egungwu Chukwuka Benjamin (Talk2chukaben)

The outbreak of Covid-19 across the globe has brought a lot of changes, it is expected that many things will change after facing the pandemic (post-Covid19). In this piece we will be looking at Nigeria before and after Covid-19.

As we all know corona-virus (Covid-19) is a virus causing illness ranging from common cold to severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-COV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-COV).
The disease which was traced to egress from Wuhan in China has so far dispersed to different continents/countries of the world.

On 27th February 2020, the first case of the disease was announced, when an Italian citizen in Lagos tested positive for the virus. On 9th of March 2020 , a second case of the virus was reported in Ewekoro Ogun State about a Nigerian citizen who had contact with the Italian man. Since then there have been rapid spread of the virus across different states in country. This led to Nigeria government taking prophylactic and curative measures to curb the spread of the virus by imposing lock-downs, constructing/ making available isolation centers for victims.

According to Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) as of 17th June, confirmed cases of the disease in the country was 17,148, Active Cases 11,070, Discharged Cases 5,623 and Death 455.
However, it is of no doubt that corona-virus outbreak has affected Nigeria economically, socially, academically(education), financially and in other aspects. Our government response to the current situation should not be limited to lock-downs, food aid (palliatives) and contact tracing of victims for treatment. Before the out break of the virus our educational system, focus on agriculture, health sector, development and leadership has been an eye sore. Here we will be considering different sectors or areas Nigeria have been affected and the changes we expect in future ( Post-Covid-19).

Educational Sector:
Before now our educational system have been dwindling instead of improving. Both the Federal and State government neglected the educational sector, dilapidated building in campuses, inadequate funding to provide the necessary equipment or tools for learning. Parents today prefer their children to attend private schools especially from nursery to secondary school even tertiary level if they can afford it. In most developed countries technology has made education easy, the use of computers and internet services in and outside the school for academic activities have been embraced. Am not disputing the fact that some institution in Nigeria actually adopted the system but it is mostly used by private institutions. The problem teachers (lecturers), students and the government is witnessing during this pandemic in our educational sector would not have been this big.

On 16th of June 2020, The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) chairman Biodun Ogunyemi expressed his concern over e-learning saying that “E-learning can not work in Nigeria”. considering that, it is of no doubt that it is because of lack of necessary resources that will aid education (e-learning) example; steady electricity, good internet services etc.
The poverty rate in Nigeria is another factor ,some can not afford devices and even to subscribe or buy data that will aid them part-take in the e-learning school activities. It might work for students in private schools but they will still face challenges like poor network service. But the public institutions due to their population and the way it harbours different caliber of people from different social background and classes (the poor, average and the rich) it might not work.

Health Sector:
I know that after this pandemic the government have seen the need of investing to improve our health sector. The ban on international travel by different countries of the world actually caught up with our leaders and elites who prefer travelling outside the country for treatment than to build a good standard hospital here at home . if the government really want the development of the country and to serve the nation well, they have to learn from this and amend there way of governance by renovating and building of good hospitals with standard equipment for treatments and carrying out research.
The Imperial College London was reported to engage on research for vaccine to combat Covid-19. If Nigeria government had invested or looked into our health sector before now, our hospitals/ government school teaching hospitals would have been part of this research. Who knows if the cure might come from Nigeria.

Socially:
The pandemic have affected the world, specially Nigeria entertainment industry and our social lifestyle. Due to the ban on social gatherings by Nigeria government . entertainers and individuals where able to think out of the box. Entertainers started conducting online concerts/shows. Example; Asa on March 29th conducted an online concert “Stay at home and sing with me”. AY one of Nigeria top Comedian conducted his “AY Live Easter Show ”Online . Even Dele Momodu a media mogul and owner of Ovation Magazine conducted his 60th birthday party online via instagram on may 16th 2020.
All these are some of the positive changes the pandemic brought, people started thinking out of the box, and if care is not taken some might like to adopt the new tested system .

Financially:
The pandemic has affected and will likely continue to affect house hold finances for years to come till we can recover . having a plan , prioritizing spending and use of resources efficiently will be a key to financial stability. Many families, businesses were affected due to the pandemic, firms laying off their staffs due to inability to harbour and pay them. But if the government and the citizens will work together we will recover quickly from the melt down caused by the pandemic. And looking at the positive lesson, this has brought change in the way individuals spend money on irrelevant things. People now manage their resources. And after this pandemic , if we maintain this it will help us save more and recover quick.



Economically/ Commerce:
The advent of technology and introduction of technology into commerce was to improve or aid the operation of businesses. After tackling Covid-19 (post-Covid19) I believe that there will be change in Nigeria commercial sector, which is going to help boost the nations economy. This change is based on we embracing technology and applying it in running our business. Before now we know that some business owner accepted cashless policy and the use of social media and soft-wares(apps and websites) to reach out to their customers. Buying and selling are made online even payments which made business easy. But not all entrepreneurs embraced that, most still prefer cash payments and face to face transaction.
Covid-19 has taught many how to use the internet and electronic devices to reach out to their customers both small, medium and large scale enterprises. Some firms ordered their staffs to work from home and some witnessed increase in their performance. After this pandemic some firms and entrepreneurs might still want to continue like that.

Power Sector:
During this pandemic the government have seen the need of steady electricity in the nation, we the citizens have been clamouring for that for long. It would have reduced the problem we are facing during this pandemic if we have steady power supply.
Epileptic power supply in Nigeria has been a problem to every sector of Nigeria economy ranging from business, education etc. It is one of the problem against E-learning in our country, no electricity for students and teacher(lecturers) to charge their devices or make use of their electronic devices which will help them access the internet for lectures. Though during the lock-down Nigeria government promised to give some free months power supply but that is not the major problem. The problem is how steady is the power supply.

We encountered many challenges during this pandemic and also it brought a lot of changes into the system. Government and individuals have lessons to learn from the shock and challenges Covid19 brought. I am using this medium to beckon on the government to take necessary actions in resolving the problems we are facing now by learning from the lessons Covid-19 brought. They should invest in education, health, agricultural sector, power sector etc, so we will not suffer all this challenges any longer.

“I am using this medium to beckon on the government to take necessary actions in resolving the problems we are facing now by learning from the lessons Covid-19 brought. They should invest in education, health, agricultural sector, power sector etc, so we will not suffer all this challenges any longer.”

By: Egungwu Chukwuka (Talk2chukaben)

Social media has fostered the spread of pseudo information (infodemics) around the globe to be specific Nigeria.
On this am referring back to to false audio message that went viral on social media message indicating that President Muhammadu Buhari and Late Former Chief of Staff to the President Abba Kyari were secretly flown out of the country for treatment.

Later, different national newspaper in the country like Business Day Newspaper reported on their publication on 26th March ,2020 “Buhari not flown abroad-presidency…”.
The Special Adviser to the president on media and publicity Mr.Femi Adesina debunked the news via his twitter handle @femAdesina.

This is not the first time people engage into dissemination of pseudo information on social media especially via whatsapp. Sometimes someone might have correct information at hand but when he/she settles in saloons (beer parlour), beauty salons, market places etc discussing with friends the story might be diluted or over exaggerated and that is how pseudo information/stories will be passed to another friend via social media and it keep spreading.

Several times the government has warned about dangers of such act. On 3rd of April 2020, The Guardian Newspaper reported the caution by The Minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed on the spread of fake news and misinformation. Stating that “in spite of repeated caution by government , is distracting the fight against Corona-virus”.

The social media if used appropriately is expected to serve as the voice of the mass(public) ,but today is used by individuals that fabricate or twist stories to gain audience ,popularity and achieve their selfish interest.
Currently on facebook Nnamdi Kanu the leader of IPOB has been fueling the rumors that MC Tagwaye a Nigerian comedian who is known for mimicking President Muhammadu Buhari is the one paid to present the presidential speech during this pandemic, he is claiming that the president is dead. All this information and claims have no strong back up, and was not reported by any recognized Media. So is not credible but FAKE.

However, social media falsehood has caused lot of damages to society ( Nigeria) and still creating more if not dealt with. During this pandemic the federal and state governments ordered the lockdown of schools, business centers, placed ban on social/religious gatherings. Later the lockdown was eased on businesses that render essential services so people can buy food to survive.

On whatsapp fake press release they claimed it is from ministry of education circulated, stating that schools will be reopened on June 8.
The ministry of education debunked the news. According to BBC Pidgin on 25th May 2020, they stated that ‘the ministry of of education said they have not fixed any date for school reopening, that the public should neglect all rumors on the social media‘.

Social media falsehood can lead or cause damages like;

•Creating conflict /differences between religions.

• it can mar or tarnish the image of people, institutions, government etc.

•It mislead or misinform the public.

•Affect people psychologically

•Create ethnic crisis and ranting on social media and physically. Etc

However, it might be difficult to identify fake news from real ones due to sometimes fake news contain real/correct information to make it look real for people to believe.
Here are some tips I have to give to individuals to identify fake news from real ones.

•Do not be fast to share information you get on social media.

•Check the creator or origin of the news. If you can not trace it forget sharing it.

•Check well on known authentic sites/ media channels to know if they reported on the story, if they didn’t I don’t advise you to share .

•When reading look out for facts that makes the story credible enough.

On 5th November 2019,Nigeria Senate proposed Anti-media bill. It was meant to allow the government to shutdown the internet whenever they sees fit. But to me that is not the best solution because the freedom of the press and freedom of speech of citizens have been restricted/ tempered with, in a democratic system of government.

I believe the best thing to do is for individuals to avoid sharing of fake news. They should take responsibility, anyone caught fabricating stories/misinforming the public and those helping in the spread of pseudo information should face the law. They should be sued for slander or libel as the case may be.

However, am calling on the government to take this serious by ensuring that any websites, social media pages or accounts that engage into this act , the owner of the medium should be arrested and interrogated (questioned) before charging to court to face punishment.

To the general public this should serve as a warning to perpetrators of such act to avoid spreading falsehood on social media even via any means. Apart from the punishment attached, lets consider the problem it might cause to the society and flee from such act .

“To the general public this should serve as a warning to perpetrators of such act to avoid spreading falsehood on social media even via any means. Apart from the punishment attached, lets consider the problem it might cause to the society and flee from such act”.