The Academic Staff Union of the Universities (ASUU), University of Ibadan (UI) chapter has expressed fear over the havoc coronavirus could cause in Nigeria, saying if drastic steps are not taken, the country could become a massive graveyard.
The Union expressed this fear in a leaflet issued by ASUU-UI Publicity Committee on Thursday April 23, 2020 and titled, “Of ASUU struggles, Nigerian govt. and the spread of Covid-19 in Nigeria”.
The Union stated, “ASUU-UI calls on all patriotic Nigerians to rise up and join our Union to confront the challenges posed by Covid-19 in order to prevent our country from becoming a massive graveyard”.
The Union stated further, “Make no mistake; the virus may be here for a while. We need men and women of exceptional knowledge and integrity to rise to the challenge and prevent our land from the consequences of past errors. In order to spearhead these efforts, our members are already mobilised to join in massive education campaign in local languages across the federation. We are already involved in street-to-street interventions in order to alert our people of the very real existential threats we face. There are predictions that Nigerians will start dying on the streets. We must prevent this from happening”.
Stressing the need to put an end to the community spreading of the virus, the Union acknowledged the heroic efforts of the health workers, who are at the frontline of battling the virus.
“The level of sacrifices that our health workers are making is unprecedented anywhere in the world, considering the fact that many of them have to confront the deadly virus, unprepared, poorly kitted, poorly remunerated, while salaries of some have not been paid in the last three months. We shall continue to pray for them, because that is all we can do, as they go to war with a most vicious enemy, unarmed, unfed and unclad”, it stated.
The Union lamented the unprecedented corruption in Nigeria, holding the incredible social ills, poor leadership, poor government and government and the unpatriotic attitude of the Nigerian political leadership responsible for the woes of Nigeria.
It condemned the Federal Government for its failure to take proactive measure to prevent the virus from migrating to Nigeria from the white man’s land.
“There are frantic calls from the Nigerian citizenry, urging the government to also take proactive measures in order to prevent the incursion of the pandemic into the shores of Nigeria. The government of Nigeria was adamant! To be sure, the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie, while briefing the diplomatic Corps on Thursday, 12 March 2020, concerning the measures taken by Nigeria to contain the spread of the virus, and the federal government’s visa on arrival policy, made it clear that Nigeria had no plans to place travel restrictions or ban, following the outbreak of coronavirus. This posture was what led to the incursion of the virus into Nigeria, first through an Italian who flew into the country on 27 February 2020 and later by other returnees who brought the virus, leading to the gradual spread of the pandemic across the country”, the Union explained.
It continued, “Since then to date, Nigeria has recorded almost nine hundred cases. The seemingly manageable number of cases, according to experts, is due to under-testing and under reporting. It was after the threat of an exponential spread of the virus in the country that the Nigerian government thought it wise to close the borders and the air space (a case of proverbially closing the stable after the horse had bolted)”.
