Governor Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State
By Idris Abubakar
The Covid-19 pandemic has not just rattled the world, but is continuing to send very dangerous and ominous signals that portend more trouble ahead. Nigeria, just like many other countries, is also still battling to bring the numbers down. In some states, the combined efforts of the federal and state governments to curtail the potency of the disease appeared to be yielding encouraging results. Kebbi is one of those states where such signals are exuding confidence that Corona Virus has lost its potency. The numbers in Kebbi are coming down very drastically. The rate of discharge of patients is also noticeably higher, giving credence to the efficacy of the measures taken by Kebbi state Governor Alhaji Atiku Bagudu in response to the high rate of afflictions the state had at the onset.
Although the number of patients had rose to between thirty and forty soon after the index case, raising fears of possible hike, the reverse was soon to become the case as the state government continued to be very vigilant and kept its surveillance at its highest peak on isolation, contact tracing, very sound sensitization strategy and robust treatment methodology for patients. One surprising aspect of the strategy was that the Governor insisted more on isolation, contact tracing and sensitization much more than complete lockdown of the state and strict curtailment of movement of people in the state. The Governor was worried by the rise in cases at a point, but was equally dazed by the apparent unpalatable consequences of the social, security and economic implications for the citizenry. Kebbi is largely farming and merchandizing economy and any lockdown would have far reaching consequences.
Now, it is apparent that despite the dangers posed by a negation of the lockdown principles and protocol, the risk appeared to be worth it when viewed from the angle of the excellent results that Kebbi has churned out in relation to the fear that the disease could skyrocket to the level of community transmission. By the 17th of May when number of patients had hit over thirty so quickly after the first index case, 5 of the cases that were on treatment have been discharged following a dramatic recovery. The encouraging signs of recovery of the others built confidence that all the measures taken were the right ones owing to the pleasant results they have yielded so quickly. The news in Kebbi is that while discharge rate was continuously high, affliction rate was correspondingly nil days on end.
Elated by the selflessness, professionalism and patriotism of the medical personnel and members of the Task Force who have tirelessly worked 24/7 despite the risk, the Governor issued matching orders for the prompt payment of safety allowances and other entitlements to all categories of those involved which runs into millions of Naira. This staff includes Consultants, Medical Officers, Pharmacists, Nurses and other ancillary staff such as Epidemiologists. The payments were based on high risk, medium risk and low risk categories.
Members of the Task Force too were not left behind in the payments as their entitlements were equally settled with a pledge by the Governor to promptly order payments of such entitlements until Kebbi is rid of Covid-19. It must be noted that apart from providing the right leadership at the time it was essentially needed which also accounted for the successes recorded, the cooperation which the people of the gave to the authorities has also played a key role in the overall success. The partial lockdown which included restricting number of hours for markets around the state, social distancing and observance of basic hygiene was, initially seen as inadequate to deal with the pandemic.
The confidence, respect and cooperation which the people of the state at all levels have for their Governor coupled with the Governor’s political will to take measures he deemed were necessary accounted for the remarkable and very quick progress recorded in the fight to stop the disease from making the kind of impact it has made in many states. It may not be totally over yet for Kebbi, but all the indices are pointing to the importance of sound leadership in taking measures that are necessary to provide safety to a people under a threat of annihilation by a pandemic.
Abubakar contributed this piece from Rafin Atiku, Birnin Kebbi
