By Abimbola Animasaun-Yagboyaju
Amidst a heavy storm, it is normal that the tiniest ray of sunshine will be greeted with loud cheers. This explains the drum roll out going on with the win recorded by the parents of private school students against the Ogun State government.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to destroy the world, governments are rigorously striving to find ways to get things back to normalcy. Trial and error approach to find what works or does not has become the new reality for most countries, including Nigeria.
Thus, when the Nigerian Federal Government announced that it was going to reopen schools for graduating students to take their final examinations, it is only reasonable to expect some element of chaos as each of the 36 states must produce a domesticated plan. Nobody really knows what those plans are going to look like.
As each state struggles to effectively get these kids back into schools without further spreading the virus, the Ogun State government, earlier in the week, announced that it has mandated COVID-19 and malaria tests for all returning boarding students.
According to a statement issued by the government, it was going to bear the full cost of the test, which is N50,000 for all public-school students, while it will subsidize that of private school students by 50 per cent, which brings down the cost to N25,000.
As expected, the announcement infuriated the already thinly-stretched parents who, without any hesitation, took to the streets to protest government insensitivity towards their plight. Subsequently, the government caved in and rescinded the mandatory test so that all students could resume, anyway.
Although one may be tempted to see only the gloomy part of this story, it is important not to miss the fact that democracy still sort of works in Nigeria. While the parents of the private school students must be commended for their courage to challenge the decision of the state government, the Ogun State government also deserves some credit for listening to the people.
The most important lesson to be drawn in the fiasco between the government and these parents is that the power to end maladministration in Nigeria lies in the hand of THE PEOPLE.
Despite the credit that goes to the Ogun State government, such outrageous ideas are all shades of wrong, considering the economic plight of Nigeria and Nigerians currently. For a starter, Nigeria’s economy, pre-COVID-19, was already facing headwinds from rising external vulnerabilities and failing per capita GDP level. The pandemic, alongside sharp fall in oil prices, has magnified problems leading to a huge decline in growth and large financing needs.
Study after study continues to detail how Nigerians are already living in hopeless poverty. According to several reports from the Federal Government, United Nations, USAIDS and World bank, 50 per cent of Nigerians already live in extreme poverty. 69 per cent of urban residents live in slum conditions. 70 per cent do not have access to potable water and sanitation. 49 per cent of children under age five have diminutive growth, even as 23 per cent of the labour force is unemployed.
All these inadequacies, coupled with the inability of the people to work, due to the stay-at-home order issued to curtail the spread of the pandemic, should have informed policy makers that N25,000 is, indeed, a tall order for many. Imagine a parent with more than a child in the said graduating classes. This begs the question, for who does the policy makers formulate their policies?
The argument that the fee was directed towards only private schools is even more outlandish, as it is unclear when sending your child to a private school started to attract penalties. More parents are settling for private schools due to the incompetence of the government towards public schools (another issue for future discussions). Many opted for these private schools, not because they have the means, but because, in most states, public schools have turned to some sort of Siberia.
Government also owes Nigerians, detailed explanation on how funds generated since the start of the pandemic is being utilized. It is inhumane to expect Nigerians to bear the extra burden of COVID-19 test when it is unclear how monies, including the $3.4 billion approved by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as emergency support to tackle the economic impact of the pandemic; the $288.5 million loan by the African Development Bank (ADB); and the 50 million Euro contributed by the European Union (EU), is being disbursed. This is not to forget the $72 million raised within the Nigerian private sector.
Nigerians deserve more than a few kongos of rice here and there or the paltry N20,000, claimed to have been paid to about 11 million people out of a 200 million-population, through the National Social Registry. Government at all levels must be working round the clock to make COVID-19 test available for free for every citizen. This is only sane because it is not a test you take once, and you are done forever.
Nigerians need more politicians whose secondary intentions would be to cater for the electorates. Now is the time for the media to hound the National Assembly to walk and chew gum, if they can. The Federal lawmakers can probe the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) for as long as they want, but the electorate need people to speak on their behalf to ease the burden of the coronavirus pandemic.
It is a public knowledge that the virus is not easy on any county around the globe. Even developed countries are finding it difficult to handle the situations as effectively as one would expect. The difference between them and us is that there is a significant number of politicians who believes that low income earners, the majority in any nation, deserves some dignity.
.Animasaun-Yagboyaju, a freelance journalist, host @ CrystalView Nigeria Podcast and former reporter @ Radio Nigeria, writes from New York, USA.
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