By Ikechukwu Amaechi
The Latin phrase, annus horribilis (horrible year), which according to Wikipedia, the free online encyclopaedia, was used in 1891 in an Anglican Church publication to describe 1870, the year in which the Catholic Church defined the dogma of papal infallibility, was brought to modern prominence by the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II.
“1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure. In the words of one of my more sympathetic correspondents, it has turned out to be an annus horribilis,” she moaned in a speech to Guildhall on November 24, 1992, marking the 40th anniversary of her accession to the throne.
She had good reasons to lament. 1992 was a year that three royal marriages collapsed, fire destroyed more than a hundred rooms in Windsor Castle, one of her official residences, and a toe-sucking scandal involving her daughter-in-law, Sarah Ferguson, wife of her second son, Prince Andrew, broke.
But, whereas in 1992, the Queen was lamenting her family woes, if she were to adjudge 2020, she would probably agree that although the year is still young, it has become the archetypical annus horribilis for the entire human race.
For, as Thomas Paine, the 18th century English-born American enlightenment philosopher and author, noted in his pamphlet, The Crisis, “These are the times that try men’s souls.” It is a year that, no matter what else happens tomorrow, will be defined by the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) disease that has become a global pandemic.
Except perhaps the 1918 Spanish flu and the two World Wars of the 20th century, nothing has shaken the world like the coronavirus pandemic in recent memory.
As I write, a virus that was first reported in China on January 10, barely three months ago, is ravaging 203 countries and territories around the world and two international conveyances: the Diamond Princess Cruise ship harboured in Yokohama, Japan, and the Holland America’s MS Zaandam Cruise ship.
More than 924,663 people are infected, with at least 46,368 fatalities and still counting. Only 193,432 patients have recovered so far. The seriousness of the pandemic is underscored by the fact that there were more than 66,344 new cases globally on Wednesday alone with over 4,066 deaths.
The fact that as at Wednesday, there were 684,863 active cases out of which 34,935 were ctritical means it will still be a harvest of deaths by Thursday morning and beyond.
Already, the White House, U.S. seat of power, projected on Tuesday between 100,000 and 240,000 deaths in the country with the fatalities peaking over the next two weeks.
In Britain, Queen Elizabeth’s first son, Prince Charles, British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, have all tested positive. Last Friday, the chief medical officer, Prof Chris Whitty, said he was self-isolating at home after experiencing symptoms compatible with Covid-19. As at Wednesday, there were 29,474 cases, 4,324 more were added same day. Out of the 2,352 fatalities, over 563 died on Wednesday.
As I was signing off on this column, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) disclosed in its latest update that the country had recorded 23 new cases, bringing the total to 174, with two fatalities while nine patients have been discharged. Whereas the two deaths were recorded in Abuja, the discharges were in Lagos.
Little wonder that President Muhammadu Buhari’s all-powerful chief of staff and leader of the infamous Aso Rock cabal, Abba Kyari, who tested positive last week, decided to relocate to Lagos.
In a statement he personally signed on Sunday, Kyari said, “I am writing to let you know that on medical advice, I will transfer to Lagos later today for additional tests and observation.
“I have made my own care arrangements to avoid further burdening the public health system, which faces so many pressures.”
But Kyari, the wily chief of staff, sorely misses the point if he thinks that the issue at stake is who picks the bill because that is beside the point.
The only reason he is in Lagos today seeking medical attention is because he has no confidence in any health facility in Abuja. And the only reason he decided to come to Lagos is because there is nowhere else to run to.
All the countries of the world are battling and international borders have been shut down. If Kyari was assured of medical attention elsewhere outside our shores, he will not be in the country today.
A friend of mine said last week that the good thing about this pandemic is that for the first time in our chequered history, we are in something together as Nigerians, an assertion which Kyari apparently agrees with when he said, “This is a disease that recognises no difference between north and south, men or women, rich or poor. We are all in this together.”
What a world! Suddenly, there is no longer any difference between the rich and poor in Nigeria? Coronavirus has become the ultimate leveller.
I couldn’t help but laugh at the inanity of our leaders after reading Kyari’s statement.
Rather than the unsolicited preachment, Kyari and his ilk should be ashamed that there is no single medical facility in Abuja that can handle his case despite the billions of Naira voted every year for the Aso Rock clinic.
On October 9, 2017, the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, lamented the sorry state of affairs at the clinic. Speaking at the opening of a stakeholders meeting on reproductive, maternal, newborn child, adolescent health and nutrition, otherwise known as RMNCAH+N, at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, she lamented the poor state of the clinic and berated the Chief Medical Director (CMD), Dr. Hussain Munir, for running an ill-equipped healthcare facility despite the huge budgetary allocations.
In my article here on October 12, 2017, titled, “Aso Rock Clinic: First Lady as whistleblower,” I noted Aisha’s lamentation.
“Before I commence my speech,” the First Lady said, “I will like to be realistic and say a few words concerning healthcare and the health delivery system in Nigeria. The Nigeria health sector is in a very, very, very poor, sorry state to say the least.
“Few weeks ago, I was sick … they advised me to take the first flight out to London but I refused to go. I said I must be treated in Nigeria because there is a budget for an assigned clinic to take care of us. If the budget is N100 million, we need to know how the budget is spent.
“Along the line, I insisted they called Aso Clinic to find out if the x-ray machine was working. They said it was not working. They did not know that I was the one that was supposed to be in that hospital at that very time.
“I had to go to a hospital that was established by foreigners in and out 100 per cent … I am sure Dr. Munir will not like me saying this but I have to say it.”
I noted in that article that “in an environment where women are supposed to be seen but rarely heard, where a woman’s place is in the ‘kitchen, living room and the other room’ (apologies to President Buhari), Aisha has acquired the aura of an enigma, an enfant terrible, ready and willing to buck the trend.”
Her outburst packed the punch of a Category 5 Hurricane but she paid a steep price.
The Aso Rock cabal never forgave her. It was the beginning of her woes at the Presidential Villa. But now, the chickens have come home to roost. That is how the cookies crumble.
In the 2016 budget, N3.87 billion was allocated to the clinic, a budget that made it get N787 million more in capital allocation than all the other 16 teaching hospitals in the country. But there is nothing to show for it. Today, Kyari is running from pillar to post to get good medical attention in a country that the government he has been the de-facto second-in-command in the last five years refused to build the health infrastructure. Aisha, and indeed many of Nigeria’s hoi-polloi, must be having a good laugh at the inanity of our leaders, if only this was not so tragic.
Nigerians are yet to realise the gravity of the situation. Perhaps, we are deceived by the relatively low number of confirmed cases announced by NCDC. But the question to ask is how many people have been tested?
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is sounding the alarm bell. While the U.S., France, Israel and others are evacuating their citizens from Nigeria and Cameroun, they are not doing so from other African countries like Ghana, South Africa and even Kenya.
The only reason these nations would rather bring back their citizens to their coronavirus-infested countries rather than leave them in Nigeria with our supposedly low number of cases is because they are aware of the tragedy about to unfold unless God intervenes.
By coming to Lagos for medical treatment, Kyari has, no doubt, eaten the axiomatic humble pie.
Will this experience teach the powers-that-be in Nigeria a lesson? I doubt. When this is all over and they can easily hop into their private and presidential jets for medical tourism abroad, Abba Kyari will no longer remember Lagos. It will be business as usual because they hold fellow citizens in contempt.
And as Thomas Paine aptly said, “To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead, or endeavouring to convert an atheist by scripture.” Shame!
