Covid 19 a Symbol of Civilization, Pains and Suffering

© Adrienne Manson All rights reserved permission must be granted by the author before any part of this article can be reproduced. Links may be used to link back to the article.

From time immemorial, epidemics and pandemics have been major threats to humanity, from prehistoric era where history recorded some dangerous pandemics such as the circa 3000 B. C. which wiped out some prehistoric villages in china, to the modern days of yellow fever, flu, polio, AIDS pandemic, West African Ebola which was first reported in Guinea around December 2013, which took hold on west Africa between 2014 and 2016 with about 28,600 cases reported with around 11,325 deaths recorded, to this present corona virus disease 2019 (Covid 19).

In this article we are going to examine some of the impacts of this current Corona Virus disease 2019 (Covid 19) on the continent of Africa, with greater emphasis on the western part of the continent.

The corona virus disease of 2019 which is believed to have started from Wuhan, a district in china has taken its tour across the entire globe, unleashing anger, frustrations and pains in different proportions across the globe, with some parts recording higher death rate than others, but one significant thing to note is that corona virus disease 2019, has spared any region.

Unlike other diseases that humanity has been battling with in this present age, corona virus presented its self with some unique features that may not be forgotten in a haste, before its burst in spread within the African continent, most of these features of corona virus where seen by many as being unnecessary and hilarious in nature, the frequent washing of hands, the avoidance of hand shaking, the wearing of mask, social distancing and all the rest of the preventive measures, unfortunately the dancing step changed as the sound of the drum changed, yes the drummer got intoxicated with abuses and mockery which eventually lead to the change of the beating. Who in its shoes will not respond alike? We neglected its presence, so it decided to enforce its recognition. Now we are putting on masks even in our bedrooms, our culture of hand shaking has been lost in a twinkle of an eye, people now wash hands in every available spot, and uses sanitizers as body cream and spray, no one wishes to die. People now understands the important of hygiene, no one spits or talks carelessly anymore. We are very hopeful that the civilization we have acquired from this pandemic will last even after we must have been healed of its pains.

In the African continent where the standard of living is low, we assume in accordance with statistics that the death as a result of this pandemic is at a low rate; well that assumption might be completely wrong, because of wrong or improper diagnosis. We tend to focus our diagnosis and records basically on the outlined medical symptoms, and that might be inaccurate in providing the actual number of deaths as a result of this pandemic. The economic lockdown and frustrations, the hardships the pandemic has brought into families, the anxiety, depression, anger, insecurity, and high crime rate are all factors that can aid death. So if we are recording the casualties that this pandemic has caused, let us remember not to exclude those casualties as a result of the above listed factors, as they are also part of the pandemic casualties.

Few days back, as I was standing around my vicinity, I saw an old woman with a boy of about 15years of age, both where carrying baskets on their heads, as they draw closer, I saw that they were going to the market to sell their goods, as they got much closer, I saw the old woman pointing towards my direction, trying to get her son’s attention, she continued to point at the same direction until she got to the place where I was standing, she requested I help her bring down the basket on her head which I did, she then walked towards a water dispenser that was placed at the entrance of my home, washed her hands properly and took the hand sanitizer as well, as the son was watching and waiting for his mother to round up her hands washing and sanitizing mission, she shouted, son! Bring down your load, this is a water dispenser here, this is a hand sanitizer, let us wash our hands before we continue, but mama we just did the same not too long ago, yes my son, but remember they said we should be washing our hands regularly and this is another opportunity before we go into the market, prevention is better than cure, the mother replied. After performing their anti-corona virus rituals of washing and sanitizing of hands, they continued on their journey. It was a hilarious moment for me as I watch the duo perform their anti-corona virus rituals. Although I desired for such hilarious events all through the day, but my desire was stripped of me, as it was not up to 20 minutes after which I saw the duo coming back again with the same baskets of goods on their heads.

As they drew closer, I saw pains, anger and frustration written all over their faces, I decided to ask why they came back so soon, and the little boy replied that they were not allowing people to go into the market, that the entire market gates were closed. I felt pity for the old woman, perhaps selling those items might be the only solution that can provide food on their table that very day, what if there is no food at all at home, how are they going to manage, not knowing exactly when the market will reopen, those are some of the thoughts that I kept pondering on. At that point I decided to encourage and educate the duo on the reasons behind the closure of the market, and why it is a very important step as this pandemic is very dangerous and can be contacted easily if proper safety measures are not respected. It is another reviving moment as I bid them farewell after having restored some courage and happiness in them.

This corona virus era has brought about so many changes in our society, leaving people with different feelings, some with feelings of anger, pains and frustration, while some also have embraced the era as an era of exploitation, dehumanization and embezzlement of public funds. As the world continues to search for a lasting solution for this pandemic, as we struggle together to minimize or better still, eliminate these ugly effects of this pandemic, we encourage those on the frontline working day and night for solution to end this pandemic so that life will return to its normal not to give up on their efforts as the life saved may be yours, We say a big thank you, and to our governments and agencies working to make sure that some of these safety guidelines are adhered to, we also appreciates your contributions, but will also like to draw your attention and remind you of some important facts which your gullibility might have caused to elude from your conscience and attention.

Restrictions on trading and other forms of restrictions aimed towards reducing the spread of this virus are very important especial at this period of time when our continent is experiencing an increase in the number of those infected, but the ugly side of it is the inability of those mandating such restrictions to carry out a properly balanced diagnosis and analysis on the effects of such impositions, both the negative and positive effects. They failed to realize the importance of a balance equation, when an equation is balanced; it becomes very easy to get the right answer. The point here is that our economy here in Africa, especially the western region is not as effective as with those of the other parts of the world, this ineffectiveness being the product of our generational bad leadership has also unleashed different categories of hardship on the population, many today depends on their daily earning for daily survival, they work from hand to mouth. This simply implies that if a householder fails to engage in any work for the day, the household may not likely have food on their table that day, this is a fact that may be difficult for some people to believe, but the truth is that a vast majority of our households lives under such condition.

Now restricting such type of people from engaging in their daily earning activities without providing any form of support to them can lead to death as well, though may not recorded as deaths caused by the corona virus pandemic because medical test did not approved it, but the truth remains that those who died as a result of hunger, depression, anger and other sicknesses because they were obstructed from earning their daily living are all part of the pandemic casualties. Some also out of frustration and anger may be prompted to violence and crime which may likely expose them to the hands of the law; all these are problems that may likely occur in a time like this if proper measures are not introduced to assist the population cope with the restrictions.

Restricting people from going out to earn their daily living without any form of support or care is cruel, dehumanizing and can as well lead to loss of lives. People continue to pay their bills as usual without any government subsidy, instead of subsidy, we see rapid increase in the price of commodities, and the without any support are asked to stay at home, are we really working to curb the menace of the virus or to aid the suffering and killing of the masses? Even the masks donated to some of the African countries by other nations to help them take care of our densely populated poor communities where being sold to these people even at a price higher than what our local mask producers are selling their products at. This simply indicates the level at which our leaders can go in order to bring pains and suffering on its citizens who are already struggling daily to survive.

How can a nation with such type of leadership develop? It is a sad thing to note that most of the African nations today are still under the autocratic system of government, operating under an autocratic constitution bonded with a democratic cover. A leadership that does not respect the interest of the masses, a leadership that clothed its self with immunity against public accountability, a leadership that considers the embezzlement of public funds as an opportunity cost, a leadership that regards spending on the development and wellbeing of its human resources as a waste of resources, they prefer to stock up those resources for their own personal gains, diverting public funds into their own accounts, because they have already clothed themselves with the cloths of immunity against accountability. Majority of our African leaders depends entirely on the pains and suffering of the masses for their daily joy and happiness. Until Africa begin to produce leaders with conscience, leaders that centers attention on humanity, and not on fraud and embezzlement of public funds, until then, Africa will continue to be underdeveloped.

As we collectively fights daily to see the end of this pandemic, we are very hopeful that soon it will be a history so that life will return to its original state. It is also very important to remind our various leaders of the defects this pandemic has caused our society, the pains, hardships and sufferings it brought to our citizens may not end at the same time, efforts should also be made to see that those affected in one way or the other are not left behind.

We also hope that the civilization the corona virus disease 2019 brought into society will live long, as history will always remember this pandemic especially in Africa for so many reasons, as I will always remember and regard covid 19’ as the mother of our modern day civilization and pains.