On Monday, 4th of May, 2020, folks trooped out like ants to resume work. Most of this enthusiastic throng had been in forced hibernation owing to the lockdown imposed by the Federal Government; an idea arrived at to help stem the tide of the hideous Coronavirus pandemic.
Social media, as expected, was alight with images of traffic congestion in Lagos that began well before 6am. Not many listened to the well meaning counsel passed round that people should take it easy and not be in a rush to resume. Some had suggested a two-week self imposed lockdown so that the early ‘adopters’ of the freedom march would have become compelled to being more circumspect before the wiser and more cautious ones begin to venture out.
It would seem, going from the images we saw, that the vast majority of Nigerians are fully done with the lockdown and are most eager to move on with their lives. This should not be viewed as a willful act of defiance by people heedless of the danger or threat to their lives that Covid 19 poses. Rather it’s an affirmation of their humanity that they would not be cowed so badly by a mere disease that they lose the desire for making a life or living. That’s the human spirit.
And Nigerians, like the rest of earnest humanity, would rather dare the hive than miss out on the honey. This should not give government any ill feelings. It should rather awaken them to the potential of a workforce that is striving under one of the most inclement business environments anywhere in the world to make something of themselves. Long deprived of support, the Nigerian worker has made a habit of bootstrapping their way to significance.
Not so true the designation by President Buhari, of young Nigerians as lazy youth. There are lazy young Nigerians, to be sure, but the vast majority of them are doing their best to find their way around in a most inhospitable environment. My position on the matter of get-rich-quick young Nigerians is that that is the example they can see. The moralization from government and public officials do not in any way align with what they see. And so, from very early on, their mind is made up as to what path to tow. Not for them, never, the unending misery that is the lot of a lot of their elders. No!
That said, however, a lot more Nigerians would rather tread the path of hard work and honesty to enable them live the life they crave. Unfortunately, the environment tends to force them, now and again, away from the straight and narrow, into the dark alleys, where under-the-table deals are the norm.
But that is all an aside. We were talking about the primacy of work. Why would people, aware of the danger, still step out for their daily bread? Well, simple answer, there’s no daily bread until there’s a stepping out. Especially in Nigeria, where, to be fair some state governments have made some effort to provide palliatives, but for the vast majority, there are no shock absorbers. There is no welfare system that gives citizens a sense of some access to the pie. Except for those who make it to government and who then go on to corner as much of the national cake as possible, leaving their countrymen hungry and starving.
Ironically, Workers Day in Lagos, FCT, Ogun and other states happened under the lockdown regime. But even as government ‘needlessly’ declared a Public Holiday, most workers were itching to return to the fields of play, to those places where their daily bread duly made their arduous and long way from imagination to manifestation. Those places are everywhere and anywhere. They are at the bus stops, hotels, one-room offices, under the bridge, in the market, by the roadside, in air-conditioned offices, in the plazas, factories, farms, hospitals, schools, government secretariats, etc. Work is how the world works.
It’s instructive to see that some countries, Sweden being a prime example, refused to buy into the lockdown mindset, preferring rather to leave its citizens to use their good judgment based on the information made available to them. Of note is that they have not registered as many casualties as countries that put their citizens on semi strict quarantine.
Everywhere, people just want to be allowed, even if not strictly to work, at least to be allowed time out of the lockdown cage. I saw on Monday, folks acting like it was their first day in Abuja, driving round their old haunts even if they weren’t going inside. Sidon for house don tire dem!
And even as we say all of this, we must strive to abide by the regulations around Covid 19, which if followed, gives us a greater chance of seeing off the demonic virus before it does more damage:
- Wash your hands every chance you get. Nope, scratch that. Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds and at least once every other hour.
- Disinfect your work space as often as possible everyday
- Wear your face mask. Non-negotiable. Government says it will arrest you if you don’t. Your fellow citizens should do government a favour and arrest you and hand you over to the law if you fail to don your face mask. Anyone not wearing their face mask is a danger to society. Full stop.
- Social distancing is critical although it’s far from instinctual. Maintain distance. Don’t do the hug and handshake with all your month lost acquaintances and friends. Give them some space. But be only as wildly cordial as possible from your safe distance.
- Move around with your sanitizer. After you touch naira notes, use it. After you touch the railing, use it. After you touch the door handle, use it. Just use it. And don’t touch your face, eyes or nose, unless you first use the sanitizer. Yeah?
Let’s make work work. We all need to work, to put food on the table, to have money for our old folks who can no longer do the work that we are now privileged to do, to give our progeny a leg up in, to sock it to naysayers who thought us incapable of rising above the station they had consigned us to. We have got to work. And we have got to work to help our country’s profile. Oil absorbs an insignificant few of us. It’s the other things, those places we are currently engaged in that can help Nigeria diversify her revenue earnings. Be it Entertainment, Education, IT, Banking, Agriculture, etc.
Let’s make this freedom to work, work!
Onuwa Lucky Joseph is the CEO, Earl Glow Communications.
