Lagos doctors, teachers, transporters, others speak on horrors of 2020

Regarded as the most turbulent year of the modern era, the just-concluded year means different things to different people. Lagos residents spoke of their pains and hope for the new year. TOLA ADENUBI, TUNBOSUN OGUNDARE, BOLA BADMUS and SUBAIR MOHAMMED capture the different strokes.

THE year 2020 ended on Thursday and the world couldn’t but celebrate seeing the conclusion of a period that seemed poised to see the end of humanity. When 2020 was in full flight, if it had been prophesised that the world would cease to exist before the end of the year, many would probably believe, especially between the months of March and September, when the entire world was literally halted in motion. Countries were locked down due to the raging coronavirus pandemic. The virus rocked and whacked everywhere. Although it strangely has a minimal fatal impact on Africa, including Nigeria, Lagos, the most populous state in the country and, by far, the most commercially-viable, was pounded in a way that the residents won’t forget in a hurry. Even in the midst of the lockdown and the economic downturn that followed, there were other socio-developmental issues the 22 million inhabitants of the state have had to combat.

A survey by Saturday Tribune showed that hope is thin among the people, especially on economic recovery and life returning to normal soon.

Major players in the road transportation sector said they foresaw a bleak 2021.

The leadership of their umbrella body, the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), expressed a bleak expectation as 2020 wound down and 2021 began. Speaking with Saturday Tribune, General Secretary of RTEAN, KLT chapter, Mr Ifeanyi Ekwunife, explained that the COVID-19 pandemic in particular had been very harsh on haulage businesses within and around the ports.

Ekwunife, said: “2020 has been devastating on haulage businesses. Yes, prices of moving cargoes have skyrocketed but as we are collecting the money, we are spending everything on buying spare parts at very expensive rates. The spare parts that we used to buy for N1,500 before the pandemic now cost N6,000. The cost of maintaining our trucks has gone up, so when I hear people screaming that cost of haulage has gone up, the truckers are equally suffering. Our trucks develop faults almost on a daily basis due to the bad state of the roads.”

On their expectations for the new year, the association’s scribe expressed doubt about the situation changing for the better. He said, “Nigeria is already in recession, we are not sure things will change for the better in the early part of 2021. We just hope that things will improve by the middle of the year.”

 

Govt tried but things aren’t easy for us –Civil servant

A civil servant in the state, Mr Olatubosun, said the year 2020 was turbulent for him and many of his colleagues due to the pandemic and the EndSARS protest which turned bloody amid killings and destruction of public and private property.

Olatubosun expressed the hope that the succeeding year would be better, even though he was still worried that things might not be so easy for many civil servants, majority of whom he said had been working from home for the past two weeks as directed by the state government in order to curb the spread of the second wave of COVID-19 in the state. The man, who falls in the category of essential workers, lauded the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration for regular payment of salaries, notwithstanding the challenges at hand.

“The year has been so turbulent and it was not easy when we had COVID-19 and for about eight months, civil servants were at home. I fall in the category of essential workers in the state so I still have to come to office. Some of us have to come to office despite the challenges. Thanks to the government of Lagos State, despite the turbulence, we still get our salaries as and when due. Notwithstanding, things have not been the same. The EndSARS protest also came. Looking at 2021, it is not going to be easy either as we are going to be affected. As a civil servant, you plan how you spend your money. We do that but I am hopeful that what I was not able to do in 2020, I will be able to do in 2021,” he said.

He, however, tasked health authorities in the country to up their game in the new year by finding a cure for COVID-19 in order end to the pandemic and ensure that workers return to work to change the current narrative. “I also expect the health sector to do better in finding a cure for the pandemic, we want to see more civil servants coming to work as you can see that workers from Level 1 to Level 14 have been at home, working from there for the past two weeks. That is a new normal,” he said.

 

Our minimum wage greatly devalued –Teachers

For the chairman of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), Lagos State, Mr Adedoyin Adesina, the year 2020 was a difficult period for many, especially teachers. According to him, people are suffering in the face of economic downturn and rising costs of goods and services, even as many can no longer afford even one meal in a day in the country. He explained that a bag of cement was now over N4,000, just as the pump price of petrol and electricity tariff had gone up and made things worse for many.

“So, the masses are greatly affected. As civil servants, even though we are being paid minimum wage, the monthly salary is nothing to write home about, considering its purchasing power. We should pray unto God to never again witness what we witnessed in the year 2020 in Lagos and the entire world. We want steady academic calendar. We want significant improvement in the economy,” he said.

 

Our workers and we were hungry for months –School owners

The president of the National Association of Private Schools Proprietors (NAPPS), Lagos State, Mr Mohammed Amusa, and the president of the Association of Formidable Educational Development (AFED), Mr Orji Kanu, said for private school owners and many other business owners in the country, surviving the just-concluded year was by the grace of God. They said their businesses were badly affected by the events of the year, making particular reference to COVID-19 and wished such events would never recur in the country. They said many of them and their workers stayed hungry for many months due to the general school lockdown which prevented them from generating incomes and now they have to face recession.

They said some of their members, especially in rented apartments, could still not open for operation because they are indebted to their landlords while some nursery and primary school pupils failed to turn up for classes before the closure for holidays. Nonetheless, they were optimistic about the new year, believing that things would take a better shape, praying that the second wave of COVID-19 would fizzle soon.

‘Parents and children felt the heat’

The Deputy National President and South West coordinator of the National Parent-Teacher Association of Nigeria (NPTAN), Chief ‘Deolu Ogunbanjo, said the year 2020 was about the survival of the fittest as things were very rough not only for parents but also for their children.

According to him, many families couldn’t afford foods on their tables as keeping the children at home for many months of the lockdown with no business activities for parents was a harrowing experience. He said the government would need to create more economic-friendly policies that would take many youths out of unemployment and also give priority to education and health as both sectors are critical to development in any economy

Ogunbanjo expressed the hope that 2021 would be a better year, saying that such would only come to fruition by the concerted efforts of both government and the citizens.

 

How we fared in 2020 –Lagos doctors

The chairman of the Lagos State chapter of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Dr Adetunji Adenekan, disclosed that at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, doctors, in droves, left Nigeria to work in other countries. He said the government needed to put a lot of things in place in 2021 to make up for the losses, noting that the number of doctors and health workers in the country was depleting by the day.

Adenekan, in a chat with Saturday Tribune, said the country had not done badly in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. He said: “The COVID-19 pandemic struck the world and affected plans of almost all the countries of the world. It also teaches the importance of taking the health sector more seriously and that no country has it all. We should improve on whatever we have to ensure that we keep getting better. As it is, COVID-19 has diverted all attentions to making sure that the spread of the virus is curtailed while other diseases like the non-communicable diseases are killing most of the citizens. In a nutshell, we have not fared badly. The response rate might have been slow initially but we gradually built up as we were able to do more even when we went on lockdown.

“Towards the end of 2020, there were talks about the second wave of the pandemic but the people seem to have forgotten the sacrifices that were made by doctors and other health workers when the virus broke out. The government is talking about the second wave of the virus but nobody is talking about the welfare of the health workers. We exposed our families and loved ones to some of these things. Looking at 2020 as a whole, we didn’t respond badly in our response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Like I mentioned, we may not have started very well but we didn’t perform badly. But the government needs to put in place a lot of things in 2021 like some capital projects that were not done in 2020, the newer things that were supposed to happen to different hospitals as regards equipment and rehabilitation, and employment should be kick-started.

“Many doctors left in droves to work in other countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are getting shorter and shorter in terms of the number of doctors and health workers we have in the country as a whole. We have to make up for those losses, including manpower, and ensure to double it in 2021. We will keep talking about the welfare of doctors and health workers. Like I tell those that care to listen, Nigerian doctors and health workers are a set of committed and dedicated people.

“But issues about welfare are still there and it is part of the reasons many doctors and health workers left the country but some of us are still here because we believe it could be better. When COVID-19 started, we were talking about hazard allowances and the government promised to pay those in the employ of the Federal Government six months hazard allowances and then continue to review the current N5,000 hazard allowance before the pandemic. They paid only three months out of that but that did not stop us from working. They have failed to review the N5,000 they pay to health workers which is too small, compared to the kind of exposure we have due to operational hazard. We are asking that they start talking about reviewing it.

“In some states, health workers are owed close to 12 months salaries. Lagos State, where I represent, is doing its best but we know that it will keep improving when it comes to taking care of health personnel. We just want the people to know that we get exposed daily and that with them not following the protocol and the non-pharmaceutical guidelines to make sure that we reduce transmission of the virus, they are further endangering the lives of doctors and other health workers.

“In 2021, budget allocation to health care needs to improve. The health sector is very important. We are appealing to every government to increase allocations to healthcare and see to the implementation and release of funds with an improved welfare package for health personnel. COVID-19 has taught us that we need to do more and that what we had before the pandemic was nothing. So, we are looking forward to a better year in 2021.”

 

Government should stop their rhetoric and go practical –Don

For Professor Oni Fagbohungbe of the Department of Psychology at the University of Lagos, 2020 was the most turbulent year in recent time. According to him, happenings in 2020 had both physical and psychological effects on many Nigerians. But rather than address these challenges, he said, government at all levels was more of rhetoric and not being practical in its approach.

Juxtaposing government’s response to challenges and the impact of such response on the psychology of Nigerians, he said: “Life is based on occurrences. Some will be palatable, while some will be unpalatable but when we receive an experience, either physical or spiritual, the important questions that should agitate our minds should be: why did this happen? What effect has it produced? And how can we change the adverse effect of it to something positive?

“But here, it is as if we don’t learn from experience. We are told that a new brand of COVID-19 is around when we have not completely come out of the first wave. There is no enough bed space to accommodate those that were affected during the first wave not to talk of accommodating the newly-infected patients. What have we learnt from all the negative occurrences of the year 2020? What have we learnt from the killings of peaceful EndSARS protesters at the Lekki toll plaza and the denial that followed? Nobody can hold back the hand of the clock that ticks all over the world.

“Our leaders should sit up. They should come out of their rhetoric and be practical with whatever they do and not operate on papers. In fact with the noise they made during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, one would think that they have enough structure and facilities to accommodate victims of the second wave. But here we are lamenting. This is really bad. The world and the economy are a system just like an individual. Let me cite an example, if a blade slightly cuts our finger, it affects the entire body. The same goes with the economy and every other thing.

“We know there is a resurface of COVID-19 in some advanced countries but how do we prepare to curtail this virus in Nigeria? It is not enough for our government to be looking at one segment of the economy and leave other segments. How can someone spend N200 million to cut grass in a refugee camp when the refugees in the camp are hungry? That is not good enough.

“The lesson I want our leaders to learn from the EndSARS protest is that the French Revolution started like a joke until it started spreading. Our leaders should wake up and not wait until it gets to a stage when aggrieved people will start reacting negatively. Everybody has a goal in life and when they are moving towards that goal, they resist any frustration or blockage. And that resistance is not usually palatable because it produces anger in individuals. And this frustration is usually either self-directed or society-directed.

“The EndSARS is a socially-directed aggression. If the government fails to do what they need to do, by the time EndSARS protest resurfaces, it is going to produce a more devastating effect. The government should do things that would prevent the recurrence of such protest. A situation whereby a senator earns millions of naira monthly and the policeman guarding him lives in abject poverty and is unable to sustain his family is not good enough. How many of these senators are willing to give up half of their monthly salaries to be used to create opportunities for the teeming unemployed Nigerian youths?

“They keep talking about it in newspapers and on radio but they don’t do anything about it. So, I appeal to our leaders to go practical and not rhetoric in 2021. The reality of life is that people have to feed and it is not for the government to bring palliatives that will address their hunger on a short-term basis and they are back to square one.

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