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The novel coronavirus pandemic has brought out the humanity in man. Across the world, countries, corporate bodies and philanthropists have rallied round to ensure that the disease is contained. But knowing the tendency of some Nigerians to embezzle public funds, it has become imperative to warn that the COVID-19 funds be judiciously used.
So far, Nigeria has been able to raise billions of Naira to help fight the pandemic. Some of the donors include the United Bank for Africa, Zenith Bank Plc, First Bank, Keystone Bank, a group of oil companies in partnership with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Aliko Dangote, Mike Adenuga Foundation, Mrs Folorunsho Alakija, Dr Emeka Offor, former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, and many others.
This show of love by these individuals and corporate bodies is understandable. COVID-19, which originated from Wuhan in China late 2019, has devastated the world. Confirmed cases for the disease in the world are over 900,000. The United States of America leads the pack with over 200,000 cases. The disease has claimed over 45,000 lives worldwide. In Italy, over 13,000 people (the highest in the world) have died of the disease. In one day, the country lost 919 people. France, China, Spain and some other countries have also recorded huge number of deaths.
In Nigeria, we have not recorded huge deaths but the number of cases is rising daily. With about two deaths and over 170 confirmed cases, the country has no option but to brace up to the challenge of combating the virus.
We commend the donors for their magnanimity. We also commend the federal and state governments for the actions so far taken. The Federal Government, for instance, said it would reach 11 million Nigerians with some palliative measures to cushion the effect of the lockdown in some states. The Lagos State Government, which has the highest number of cases in Nigeria, is also giving out some palliatives to some residents of the state. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu said over 200,000 households would benefit from the first phase of the food items the government is dishing out.
Nevertheless, we feel the government at various levels need to do more. The 11 million Nigerians the Federal Government intends to reach pales to insignificance compared to the huge population of the country which is about 200 million. Similarly, 200,000 households in Lagos are a tiny fraction of the over 20 million residents of the state.
The snag here is that there is no effective data to know how many Nigerians the government will reach and how it will reach them. The other fear is that the funds may not be properly accounted for. The fears are based on the antecedents of many public office-holders who embezzle public funds with impunity. In the current corruption perception index, Nigeria scored low despite various efforts to combat the scourge. An army General is standing trial for diverting N400 million reportedly meant to equip soldiers fighting insurgency in the North. We have heard ugly stories about how Internally Displaced Persons (IDP), especially in the North, had been short-changed in their camps.
Even before the emergence of coronavirus, the country, ingloriously, is adjudged the poverty capital of the world. For many, it is not certain when and where the next meal will come from. Corruption is what largely led to this poverty problem. Covid-19 lockdown will worsen it.
Hence, it will be the height of insensitivity and heartlessness to tamper with the COVID-19 funds in any way. A lot of money has come in. The issue now is how to coordinate and manage it. There should be a particular source where the money is domiciled and disbursed from. Although President Muhammadu Buhari has assured Nigerians that the funds would be properly utilised to check the effect of the COVID-19 and reposition the health care system, we wish to state that channelling the contributions through the Presidential Task Force for the Control of the COVID-19 is commendable but not enough. The Federal Government should also create a committee that will ensure that the funds are transparently and judiciously accounted for.
This committee should be made up of, among others, representatives from the anti-corruption agencies and civil society groups with specific bent on anti-corruption and transparency in governance. There should not be any margin for errors. This is a matter of life and death and whoever is found to have tampered with the funds in any way should be decisively dealt with. Nigerians have sacrificed enough and deserve some humane treatment at these perilous times.
