An Open Letter to President Buhari on COVID-19 in Kano, By Dr. Mukhtar Datti Ahmad
POLITICS DIGEST – Your Excellency,
COVID-19 is spreading like wildfire in the home of your most fanatical supporters – Kano. It is fed by a toxic concoction of incompetent government, misinformation, and scorching poverty.
The state government has:
⁃ failed to plan adequately for covid-19
⁃ failed to investigate an exponential increase in death rate
⁃ failed to develop the state’s healthcare system while the sun was shining
⁃ failed to build a team based on merit to fight covid-19 in Kano
⁃ failed to plan for the lockdown leading to many potential deaths from non-covid reasons due to closure of health facilities and hunger
Your Excellency I fear the situation in Kano is out of control and could take the rest of the country into a disastrous spiral.
We have got to a point that only the declaration of a state of emergency in Kano will rescue the situation. 21 years of personalised government and denudation of the civil service and civil structures has joined forces with Covid-19 in wreaking disaster among our people.
Read Also:
Lagos was given 10billion to aid its efforts. I know money is pledged to Kano but I fear the mindset of the current government would render any grants as good as water down the drain. There simply isn’t a credible plan or a coalition of experts to make the best use of any funds provided.
I do not make this suggestion lightly – like many Nigerians, I grew up under military rule and abhor dictatorship. There is a reason however that our constitution has imbued you with this power. I cannot imagine a graver situation than this or a better reason to use these powers clearly outlined in section 305 of the 1999 constitution.
The Federal government is not without blame for example the under-provision of testing capacity in the North. There clearly is a concerted effort however with NCDC and the task force. I particularly have high regard for the NCDC Chairman Dr Ihekweazu and National Co-Ordinator Dr Sani Aliyu. I believe they are encumbered by the clunky and I dare say corrupt bureaucracy which Mr President your have often alluded to. You must do all you can to free them from the shackles of corrupt and ineffective government so they can help us chart our way out of this crisis.
You famously said if we don’t kill corruption, it will kill Nigeria. In Covid-19, corruption has found a potent comrade-in-arms and the biggest battle will be in Kano.
I implore you to act decisively to save thousands of lives and prevent a socio-economic catastrophe.
– Dr. Ahmad, a Consultant Colorectal Surgeon and Clinical Director of Surgery, wrote from Newcastle, UK
