People are hungry, angry and desperate. Their dripping blood has reach the exsanguination stage, if they are to react, it will be on a cataclysmic scale. In a word, no one will be safe.
Lack of access to affordable food was the major catalyst that spurred the historic 1789 French Revolution, the 1917 Russian Revolution, and recently the 2010 Hunger Revolution (Arab Spring), which engulfed the Middle East and Northern Africa.
It´s naïve to continue to believe things shall remain as hunky-dory as they are months back. Our country´s economic woes has been building up for years, and thanks to this pandemic the livelihoods of about 42% of its estimated 200 million citizens is under siege. As recently disclosed by (NBS) report.
To call this a disaster waiting to happen is a gross understatement. We have before us the worst health and economic crises since the civil war, its abrupt spill-over will no doubt wreak havoc on political and social institutions, altering their course perilously.
“This is a very difficult time because the challenge we have now are double. There is health challenge, there is an economic challenge… we still have to feed the people and you can only feed the people if people go out and farm. ” Finance Minister, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed lamented during a public announcement that the economy will go into recession on May 21.
In an effort to convince us to continue to be vigilante, and to mobilize the world against the likely occurrence of future pandemic outbreaks effectively, Bill Gates, quotes from Winston Churchill´s addressed after a major victory during World War II: “This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”
After careful considerations and in-depth analysis Harvard´s Professor of International Relations, Stephen M. Walt maintains that the prospect of war is highly unlikely during this pandemic, on the contrary the challenges poses by the virus could serves as a catalyst in promoting peace between foreign powers. Only ´stupidity´ on the parts of any leader might lead to war at this time. He concluded. But the question that no one have answer yet, is; how will people in poor countries react when they lost touch with basic necessities that sustains life?
The world renowned economist, Dambisa Moyo´s unrelenting optimism about Africa’s ability to solve its own problems was shattered by the unprecedented economic malaise she believes might befall the continent due to this pandemic. The notorious author of, Dead Aid, had completely shielded her ferocious grievances, calling instead, for an ambitious $1 trillion aid package for Africa from the same western powers she consistently – for a decade – indicted. Citing a looming humanitarian crisis on a terrific scale should African economies be left to cater for themselves as the reason for her unexpected U-turn.
“The pandemic threatens African progress. It will aggravate long-standing inequalities and heighten hunger, malnutrition and vulnerability to disease.” UN’s Antonio Guterres feared. The usual trend is to have the elites themselves speaking up on behalf of the masses as the above cited instances, but the pandemic have change all that. The peoples´ who are normally too busy with their respective endeavours – in a bid to make ends meet – to spare a serious thought for any systemic failure or other plights afflicting them suddenly have an ample time in their hands to reflect on their ill conditions – and if necessary might not hesitate to deflect the blame to the existing socio-political institutional structures.
The coronavirus crisis has made obvious to many what seems already clear for few – that a fundamental economic reform is needed to ensure better living condition for all. Once the masses truly understands that such reforms cannot materialize without strong political will, then they will not hesitate to challenge the existing political status quo; and not necessarily in a pacify manner.
As the Finance Minister Mrs. Ahmed, unwittingly accept: we lacks both the fiscal might and the strong institutional structures to cushion the dire socioeconomic effects of this pandemic. Yes, all is not well. The country´s poise towards economic contraction is certain, but the threat such crises poise to political stability is highly sketchy. It can go either ways. With the current median age of 18.6 years; these teeming young unemployed, dissatisfy, aggrieved, and ambitious population are a recipe for national social unrest.
The usual tantrum of, “oh, that’s how the world works, there is nothing anyone can do about,” Is no longer saleable to the public. People are beginning to ask serious questions as to why we ended up where we are. This crises has succeeded in substituting their passivity with curiosity. These are not just some riff-raff aggrieved illiterates whose threats can be merely dismiss as insignificant. They are a teeming youth whose energy and determinations is second to none. Their education – though epileptic – is solid. They are the pride of any nation – but a nightmare, of broken regimes.
