The Unveiling of Africa’s Reality in The Face of a Pandemic-By Suleman Joseph Audu

Africa, just like other continents across the globe is currently facing an enormous challenge of tackling the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic which has claimed close to 15,000 lives already with Italy, China, Spain, Iran leading the death tolls.

According to the WHO, more than 1000 cases have so far been reported across the African continent with Egypt and South Africa leading the number of confirmed cases.
One would have expected African leaders to have taken serious and apt proactive measures at the onset of the virus outbreak in China, but in their iterative poor reactionary approach, chose to act at the eleventh hour. This rush hour strategy has brought to fore the state of acute infrastructural decay such as primary health care, water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) – basic amenities needed to bring dignity to the society. Religious overzealousness and stench ignorance are further exacerbating the situation.

African leaders for decades now have notoriously lavished public funds meant for providing basic amenities such as schools, road infrastructures, primary health care centers, and WASH services. Health care officers do not receive regular training as required and primary health care centers are lying fallow without drugs and equipment while the leaders live in Eldorado, enjoy foreign medical tourism, all on state resources ensuring that the citizens perish in a vicious cycle of penury in the same country. WASH services are out of the reach of the masses. Their uninspiring leadership style has left a lot of youth stranded in brazen directionlessness towards finding fulfillment to make meaningful contributions in building a sustainable society.

Religious overzealousness has taken a dangerous turn in Africa. While Isreal and Saudi Arabia, where Christianity and Islam emanated from respectively, have all taken serious measures to contain and prevent the spread of the COVID-19, Africans are geared up to combat the virus with “corrosive prayers”. Such notions should not come as a surprise as it is evident by the magnificent worship edifices found on every corner of major cities built through the contributions of citizens, occasionally supported by the government.
Governments spend billions annually on pilgrimages, contributing to boosting the economies of already successful nations while people are desperately in need of potable drinking water.

These same citizens are willing to contribute all their earnings to build religious centers but unwilling to contribute a fraction of such amount in building community-based amenities capable of uplifting their lives and that of generations to come. Conversely, the high number of such religious edifices do not translate to sincerity, kindness, tolerance, corrupt-free mindset and commitment towards nation-building.

Poor education infrastructures and low quality of education serve the purpose of recycling superannuated curricula. This approach is devoid of stimulating sound logical and cognitive reasoning for critical thinking required in a research-oriented and digital age we live in. Sustaining this teaching and learning approach will at the long run only reinforce mediocrity amplified by superficial reasoning.

Unlike other epidemics such as Lassa fever, Ebola, and HIV which could be avoided depending on one’s lifestyle or location, the COVID-19 comes for ALL humans albeit it has a higher fatality rate among aged adults. The good news is that no government official can embark on foreign medical tourism at the moment since the countries they always visit have their situations to face at the moment. WE DIE HERE!

Regular washing of hands and social distancing are some of the proven strategies to curb the widespread of the virus but how can one regularly wash hands when you can’t even have access to water? The deplorable inhabiting conditions of especially the peri-urban areas will likely pose a difficult challenge due to congestion and poor urban planning. Ignorance and religious overzealousness have made it quite difficult to restrain people from social gatherings.

If we survive this pandemic with or without many casualties, then this should be our wake up call. African leaders must understand that personal aggrandizement of wealth at the expense of the citizens’ welfare has the rippling consequence capable of sweeping us all into the abyss of perpetual doom. For how long should we wallow in cyclic poverty and stench ignorance?

The current lockdown is an opportunity to have a deep sober reflection and restrategize using deliberate and consistent people-oriented policies. Improving the quality of education must be a priority from the primary to tertiary level using a learning curriculum that reflects the current reality across the globe. Funds should be committed to developing indigenous technology and ICT knowledge to bridge the gap between Africa and the rest of the world. WASH services must be a fundamental human right and provided to every citizen.

Hospitals and health care workers must be encouraged with better welfare and working conditions. Religious leaders need to recognize their position as the moral compass of the society interfacing between the political leaders and citizens through teachings of sound doctrines of love, tolerance, and kindness for each other thus championing a new cause of a prosperous society.

The myriad of achievements of Africans from all walks of life within and outside the continent’s shores is only a glimpse of an irrefutable truth of what we can achieve if provided with a conducive environment. Let's work together to make Africa the giant it ought to be. Africa Wake up!

Suleman Joseph Audu
writes from Delft, The Netherlands.
swiftsulex@gmail.com

Brilliantly composed and detailed.

Build and outlined facts are top-notch, fact and actual sceneries.

Kudos!

Just that it won't hit front page.


You will need to add Regina Daniels or Snake to the topic for it to make it there.

Mynd44, lalasticlala.

Take this to the front page forthwith.

Just

Regular washing of hands and social distancing are some of the proven strategies to curb the widespread of the virus but how can one regularly wash hands when you can’t even have access to water?

*********** *************** ************

If we survive this pandemic with or without many casualties, then this should be our wake up call. African leaders must understand that personal aggrandizement of wealth at the expense of the citizens’ welfare has the rippling consequence capable of sweeping us all into the abyss of perpetual doom. For how long should we wallow in cyclic poverty and stench ignorance? 

God bless you real good for this.

[s]

post=87710055:


*********** *************** ************


God bless you real good for this.

[/s]

CoronaVirusPro:
Brilliantly composed and detailed.

Build and outlined facts are top-notch, fact and actual sceneries.

Kudos!

Just that it won't hit front page.


You will need to add Regina Daniels or Snake to the topic for it to make it there.

Thanks. Such clarion calls hardly make it to the front page. We will learn by force someday.

They won’t hear. It’s just glad that we’re all in this together. They’ll enjoy the mess they created too.