Sheikh Jingir, Kyari’s Death and The Reality of COVID-19, By Habibu Bawa
POLITICS DIGEST – Let the sun spark, the moon wound round, stars fall, seas overflow, heaven asunder and earth go ablaze, I’m not unaware it’s against our northern norms, I’m not also mindful that many will deride me, call me names or unleash their dogs against me, I’m not also dropping ink to dump on a highly revered figure of a spiritual group but I’m penning this so public figures will know where and when to cross their T’s or dot their I’s.
Few days ago there was a continuous meme on the reality or otherwise of Coronavirus disease widely known as COVID-19. In the forefront was a Jos-based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Sani Yahaya Jingir tagging it as a Jewish/Whitemen conspiracy and asking if someone has seen or know anybody infected or someone who has died of the illness in a video clip that went viral on social media.
In a clip also, teenagers believed to be followers of the leader of the Jos faction of Izala Movement were seen chanting and jubilating in support of their Sheikh ‘debunking Coronavirus propaganda’.
At the other side also were witless social media activists and propagandists unapologetically distorted and bare of facts who see it as another method to sip public funds by government officials using hearsay and rumor to build their claims baselessly, some asking similar questions like the much revered Sheikh.
But just like the day most break no matter how lengthy the night, circumstances unfolded into eventuality giving the rhetoric questions a full fledge answer — a widely announced death of an infected person, the Chief of Staff to the President and a widely broadcast funeral on Televisions.
Coronavirus may not be a famous virus like HIV, Ebola or Hepatitis, this is same with many other viruses; there are wide over a thousand specie of viruses isolated with less than a tenth known to cause disease in humans, animals or plants.
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Scientifically, the first evidence of the existence of viruses was over a hundred years ago in experiments with filters porous to bacteria and other organisms of it size which lead to the isolation of Tobacco Mosaic Virus in 1892 even though vaccines were developed earlier. In the other hand, Corona virus, a member of the order Nidovirales together with it’s ‘sister’ Torovirus was first described in 1931 and isolated from humans in 1965 according to historical facts but only received medical attention after the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome I(SARS—1) outbreak in late 2002 and recently, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in 2013, while Covid with about five strains in three groups is known to cause upper respiratory tract infection, Torovirus causes animal diarrhea and their origin is still unclear but believed to be from bat viruses by some virologists.
Now, back to Abba Kyari of blessed memory, if there’s anything his death revealed to us, it is simply two things:
One, religious leaders are not always the right consultants for many things and two, on medical cases, people should ensure their decisions are based on scientific evidence and sound medical advice from professionals. If the wife or child of a world class cleric should wake up with fever without headache, he will not hesitate to run to the nearest health professional.
Death is inevitable and death of whomsoever is unwelcome, no matter your differences with Kyari, you cannot deny his loyalty to his boss and patriotism. Let me conclude this with the last public words of the master strategist before relocating to Lagos;
“Like the whole world, we are dealing with a new disease. Our experts are learning more all the time about Coronavirus, what it does and how we can combat it….. Listen to good advice from the proper authorities: pay no heed to quack cures or fake news…”
COVID-19 requires all hands on deck soberly and cooperatively to be able to fight it successfully for all to be safe and for a better economy. Religious and traditional leaders should support government in whatever way they can to curb this ailment.
Bawa wrote from Kebbi via [email protected]
