Bauchi State in the Northeast of Nigeria has a worse record than Kano State in the Northwest in terms of citizens’ compliance with the restrictions on movement in the wake of COVID-19, another in the series of situation reports by the Kano based Centre of Information Technology and Development, (CITAD) has shown. The first of the reports was on Kano State where the NGO uncovered minimal compliance, with markets, mosques and major streets in full swing, (https://intervention.ng/19668/).
Chosen because of CITAD’s active presence in the state as well as its strategic location bordering six other states of Yobe, Gombe, Taraba, Jigawa, Kano and Kaduna, the monitors found that “if strong measures are not taken, it (Bauchi State) would be a major source of the spread of the virus across the two regions”
It came to this conclusion from what it saw in places of workshop, markets, sports, inter and intra-state travelling, hospitals and wedding spaces that are normally the key sites which compromise the idea of social distancing privileged by both the WHO and NCDC as well as the Federal Government of Nigeria in imposing lockdown.
Monitors who observed, interviewed respondents and factored in third party bits discovered the following, in spite of sweeping measures announced by the Government on March 23rd, 2020 such as closure of all schools, restrictions on all gathering exceeding 50 people regardless of religious or any affiliations and closure of the state to its outsiders as well as the constitution of a high powered committee under the Chairmanship of Alhaji Baba Tela, the Deputy-Governor of the state.
Motor Parks
- Despite the interstate movement restriction by the state government, all motor parks in the major towns of Bauchi, Azare, Misau, Darazo and Jammare were fully operating and passengers were busy boarding to travel to other states as far as the Federal Capital Abuja just as others were arriving as well.
- At the Tirwun Motor Park Bauchi which serves travellers to Darazo, Misau, Azare, Yobe and Borno, only cars going to Borno and Yobe states were abiding by the rule of carrying just three passengers in one vehicle although they did not care about sanitizer or hand washing facilities. Passengers cry heavily for this as the drivers transfer the total burden to them. For Borno, instead of paying N3,000, passengers now pay N5,000 while for Yobe instead of paying N1,700, they now pay 3,500 – 4,000 depending on the park. The rest are carrying on business as usual – i.e six (6) passengers per car; two at the front seat and four (4) at the back seat, making seven (7) including the driver and there is no increase in the transport fare.
- Central Market Park (Kano and beyond route) No compliance, with the drivers carrying six instead of five (5) passengers on the ground that the extra passenger is to cover up the additional cost of ‘settling’ security personnel at Kano boarders due to boarder closure by Kano state government.
- Muda Lawal Park:Here, there is not anything such as sanitizer or soap even as transport fare has been increased for the similar reason of settling security men on their way to Kano so that they can be allowed into Kano State.
- The same story applies to Gombe Road Park covering the route to Gombe, Yola and Adamawa; Wunti Park covering Jos and Jos Road Park which is the route to Jos, Abuja, Kaduna.
- In Azare, Misau, Jama’are, Darazo and Ningi towns, life is very much as if there is nothing called COVID – 19. Notwithstanding the ban on inter sate movement, vehicles form Kano, Yobe and Borno states pass through the town without any attempt to enforce compliance from the security agencies.
- Members of the workers’ unions who would have been expected to enforce compliance in the area of their jurisdictions were the ones superintending loading and assisting the passengers to board buses and cars, suggesting that they were not integrated into the COVID – 19 prevention regime or there had been low degree of sensitization on the side of the government.
- Motorists only got little resistance when crossing through the borders of Kano and Jigawa states where they bribe the security personnel with between 100 -200 Naira to be allowed to cross the boarders to their destinations.
- For ‘Keke NAPEP’ riders, the story is not too different from the market places as they carry as many passengers as their tricycle can accommodate, depending on the cost passenger(s) can offer. Looking at how high the price of hand sanitizer goes, some of the riders resolved to settle on locally made sanitizers but the issue they encountered with that is rejection, as most of the passengers hardly trust sanitizers in Faro or bottles of Coke. There is even fake news in circulation that charms are used for hand sanitizers especially on ladies. So, their resolution to settle for low cost items to comply and minimise cost failed here and the truth is they cannot maximise profit using the standard sanitizers based on their claims.
Places of Worship
The entire Jumma’at mosque in Bauchi held Jumma’at prayers with the exception of the one in Police Barrack in Yelwa. Similarly, Churches continue to conduct services, although there is observed reduction in the length of the service. There was no significance compliance in terms of social distance and the use of sanitizers, although there were some places that disinfected their place of worship before the Jumma’at prayers as was the case in Azare Central Mosque where a Shiite Association, Islamic Movement Medical Association (ISMA) disinfected the mosques before the prayers but not the restriction of gathering to 50 people. At the Jama’are Central Mosque, not only Jumma’at prayer was conducted, five weddings were conducted immediately after.
Hospitals Visited
There was compliance in some public hospitals in state as well as private hospitals but not in places like Rimi Clinic in Bauchi, Assalam Clinic and the General Hospital in Jamaare where none of the four departments had any safety measures, these being Male surgical ward, Female surgical ward, Maternity department and Causality ward.
Marriages and other Social Ceremonies
Festivities in the state especially marriages and other ceremonies were going on without restriction and enforcement. While the Son of Late Alhaji Umar Ahmad (Former Bauchi State Deputy-Governor) and the son of Muhammad Ahmad Gololo (Representative for Gamawa Constituency) were held with large crowds at Azare Central Mosque by 11 am on Saturday, April 11th, 2020, it was the wedding of the daughter of Alhaji Anas Kango in Bauchi at Bakin Kura on April 4th, 2020 by 10 am. Alhaji Habibu Angale’s son wedded on Saturday, April 4th, 2020 at Gwallaga Jumma’at Mosque in Bauchi by 11pm and it was attended by many people, including a number of political figures in the state. ‘New York Event Centre’ along Maiduguri road held wedding events without break ever since the coming of this pandemic.
Viewing centres no longer operate but people still play football physically in some of the makeshift playing grounds across the state, particularly Gida Dubu Housing Estate Football field.
CITAD’s Recommendations
CITAD is offering some recommendations. The very low non-compliance scenario might not be unconnected with what CITAD attributes to both the governor and his deputy. While the governor, according to CITAD, attended a Juma’at prayer with large gatherings of political appointees and party members, his deputy who announced the drastic measures earlier on had been quoted as saying there Government had no money to implement palliatives; could, therefore, not impose a total lockdown and, instead, well as telling the citizens to go about their normal businesses and pray for Allah’s protection.
Still at the NCDC office in Abuja
“What this did was to send a wrong signal that the issue was not serious and that citizens felt encouraged to be less observant of safety measures”, said CITAD. While applauding the governor for voluntarily self-isolating following report that Atiku’s son whom he met on a flight earlier on tested positive, the governor’s action in attending the Friday Prayer was ill-advised, it argues, pointing out how that encouraged the public to disregard the measures that government had announced. “After all, if the governor is shown on television, attending Friday prayers, why should an Imam not conduct the prayer in his mosque?”
CITAD is, therefore, recommending to the Bauchi State Government to find an effective way of neutralize the wrong messages sent by the speech of the Deputy Governor and the appearance of the Governor at Friday prayer; get the Committee against the COVID – 19 in the state to strengthen its relationship with the Market Unions, Transport Workers Union, Tricycle Riders Associations and other Civil Society Organizations to be able to reach out to their members in terms of sensitization as well as consider putting in place an enforcement task force capable of enforcing total compliance where people become adamant.
Other recommendations are guaranteeing promised palliatives reach the target beneficiaries as soon as possible so as to help compliance with restrictions on movement; fishing out and quarantining all those suspected to have had contact with victims in the state; governors of Kano, Jigawa, Bauchi and Yobe states liaising and quickly ensuring that their border closures are effective across their state borders. Closing down markets is also part of the recommendations because that is what provides excuse for traders to be traveling and thus contribute to the high number of people breaking the border closer. CITAD is, finally, telling the Bauchi State Government to reconsider it decision not to impose lockdown and do so with immediate effect so as to guard against the spread of the virus into rural communities where healthcare facilities are lacking.
The empirically rich and sociologically revealing report reinforces that major question as to why people are not complying. Does that not conclusively show that there are, indeed, no political parties with organic linkages in Nigeria? Can anybody imagine non compliance on this scale by members of the Unity Party of Nigeria, (UPN) under Chief Awolowo or of the People’s Redemption Party, (PRP) under Malam Aminu Kano in the Second Republic or the era before then?
When President Buhari says lockdown is a matter of life and death, did he reckon with plausible contextual issues around non-compliance or his residual militarism has taken a better part of him as to reflect on this sociological impasse? Of course, an impasse it is because any similar study in other parts of Nigeria today will show nearly the same outcome.
Unless Oxfam got it right in its epistemologically fascinating framing of it: “Across Africa, COVID-19 heightens tension between faith and science”, (https://oxfamblogs.org/fp2p/across-africa-covid-19-heightens-tension-between-faith-and-science/ ) then the power elite might be getting the most disturbing indicator of disconnect in recent years. That is if it gives a damn.
