Nigerians are debating out of fear. It is an important debate: should we re-open public and private schools or should we shut them down until the Ebola problem is put under control; and when will that be?
The House of Representatives is seeking a change in resumption date. When October 13 was earlier announced, it was greeted with silence by parents; and a loud opposition by private school owners.
The date was later changed to September 22. Meanwhile, there is nothing to show that the dread of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) and its spread would, by September 22, go down or be eliminated. The fear has even increased.
Fear brings torture and generates sorrow. It spreads faster than an epidemic. Fear is an ambush against freedom; it imprisons both the mind and the spirit. The bravest of soldiers are crushed in battle when fear intrudes their spirits.
Little wonder the Bible keeps repeating “fear not” about 360 times. For everyday of the year, there is a “fear not” admonition to keep us going. That means God Himself understands the deflating powers of fear, if allowed to rule our lives.
There is a Biblical story about a great famine in a city called Samaria. Hunger walked around the city forcing parents to kill and eat their children. Then one day, a prophet called Elisha declared the unusual. He announced that the famine would stop within 24 hours. Not only that, he said food would be so surplus that prices would crash miserably. His statement was treated with scorn by the king’s chief adviser. But because a prophet had spoken, something had to happen to bring fulfilment.
At the time Elisha prophesied, a country called Syria (yes, the same Syria that has been at war these past years) had besieged Samaria. With hunger killing the Samaritans, war was the last thing they needed. Fear gripped the people to their bone marrow.
In that same city, there were four lepers. Like every Samaritan, they were tortured by hunger. Driven by the fear of death, they took a ‘very foolish’ decision that turned out to be the wisest because it was ordained by God. Afraid that hunger would kill them slower than war, and with trembling steps, they left the city gate and headed towards the camp of the Syrians. It was a deadly gamble.
They told each other: “Why should we sit here waiting to die? We will starve if we stay here, but with the famine in the city, we will starve if we go back there. So we might as well go out and surrender to the (Syrian) army. If they let us live, so much the better. But if they kill us, we would have died anyway.”
As they fearfully walked towards the camp of the Syrians, their feeble footsteps, hardly audible, created a thunderous sound as though from a great army, and scared Syrians. God did it! Struck by fear of an impending attack, the Syrians took off and left their arms, ammunition and food. The food was in such surplus quantity that, as predicted by the prophet, everyone could afford whatever he needed.
While the fear of slow death by hunger caused the lepers to head towards the enemy’s territory, God magnified their steps and caused the Syrians to flee out of fear. What we fear most sometimes works in our favour.
The fear of EVD is a wake-up call in the Nigerian health sector, particularly in the area of infectious disease. Laughably, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) is said to be against re-opening of schools.
While Ebola walked tall, slaughtering whom it desired after it was exported to Nigeria, the NMA was on strike. It refused calls by several groups and organisations to return to work, until after several precious lives had already been lost, including those of doctors.
Yes, Ebola is a serious threat; almost uncontrollable. By its very nature, it spreads faster when people congregate. It does not spare anybody. If it can easily kill medical doctors with all the expertise at their disposal, what about ordinary humans like us? That is why we live in fear.
Among the children, the disease is bound to achieve its devastating aim with little restriction. But it is not only in schools that you have a congregation of people who can easily contact the disease. What about the market and all the people therein?
When the first resumption date was announced, my first reaction was: Hold it! This is wrong. Government should rather establish and ensure adherence to necessary procedures on how to combat the disease, instead of running away from it. I am beginning to adjust that position.
If schools are shut down, our children would be safer. Children are not like adults. Sicknesses access them easily. The spread of Ebola is likely to be more phenomenal if children are exposed to it. Unlike adults, it would be difficult to have them quarantined.
But when will Ebola end, so that schools can be re-opened? What will be the appropriate time to re-open schools? How will the teachers and non-teaching staff be paid their salaries if schools are shut down indefinitely?
While private school owners must look beyond profit, government and the NMA must stop mere grandstanding. Certain well-articulated and enforced rules must be enacted for every school before re-opening. We must neither endanger our children nor further allow our educational system to suffer.