The world is currently held at the jugular by a new strain of Coronavirus disease, SARS-CoV-2, which was first identified in Wuhan, China in December 2019. COVID-19, as it has been dubbed, is a lethal virus which has been contracted by over 2 million people out of which more than 170 thousand have died. Nigeria has had its share of the pandemic and still counting. The country, like other countries of the world, has been forced to take measures to curb the spread of the disease because there is no specific vaccine that could cure it yet. With these measures taken, there have been several concerns. While the more pronounced are the negative ones, one cannot deny the fact that the pandemic has its own positive effects in Nigeria.
For one, the elite, mostly constituted of members of the ruling class, reputed for always going overseas to fulfill their needs, now have no choice but to stay at home. It has become nonnegotiable for them to settle for what the country’s healthcare system in its sad state has to offer. Boss Mustapha, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, exemplified the trouble with and from the ruling class when he claimed ignorance of the bad state of the country’s healthcare system (Premium Times, 9 April 2020). This healthcare system is only one of the many systems which have suffered for too long. With the reality that has dawned on the country, it is believed that the government will wake to its duties.
Also, COVID-19 has provoked the need to be more informed amongst the populace. For the sake of his or her freedom and fulfilling financial needs at least, an average Nigerian is very curious about the developments on the novel virus. People are impatient to resume their normal lives in spite of the importance that must be given to the fight against the virus. They have realized that the world is more connected than before, that a disease in as far a place as China can affect them too and so they need to know what is going on in the world.
In addition, the pandemic has also revealed that more efforts must be made on collective social responsibility. The rich need the poor as much as the poor need the rich. Evidently, one’s safety from the pandemic is not personal, it is communal – if one is staying safe, one’s neighbor needs to stay safe as well. There are startling revelations about
the spread of the pandemic which social distancing may fail to prevent – the duration of its stay in the air, its length of  travel, its endurance on objects, amongst others. One’s safety from social vices such as theft and robbery is also communal. With people staying off their works in a country where most people depend on their daily earnings for survival, it is important for the well-to-do to complement the efforts of the government to help the commoners fulfill their basic human needs – especially on feeding.
The virus has also served as a reminder that life is ephemeral. The world, Nigeria by extension, has been reduced to an insecure Internally Displaced Persons’ camp. Businesses, worship centers, markets, sports arenas etc are closed. Verily, life has not been shown to be more temporary than this in recent times.
In conclusion, from the government realizing its failures, the need for more commitment towards social responsibility, whatnot, it is hoped that COVID-19 will also be remembered for its positive effects when it is finally curbed.
