Coronavirus Around the World – Nigeria
Coronavirus in Nigeria – Quick Response
OTL City Guides are designed to be the go-to for all kinds of lifestyle information. However, we never thought we’d be sharing stories about life during a global pandemic like the effects of the Coronavirus in Nigeria and around the world.
Unfortunately, lifestyle these days seems to completely revolve around the Coronavirus COV-19 crisis. While so many of us are cooped up at home or on the front lines of the pandemic response, it can be easy to forget that we’re not the only ones going through this, so we’ve asked writers from around the globe to share their experiences.
This post is from Chijioke, a Nigerian pharmacist on lockdown. The good news is that the local government acted quickly, which has kept the number of infections relatively low in Nigeria. For stories from other locations, be sure to visit our Coronavirus blog, as we’re gathering personal perspectives from around the globe.
My Coronavirus Experience in Nigeria
By Chijioke Chukwuekem, Nigeria
I am Chijioke Chukwuekem, a Pharmacist practicing in Nigeria. I work at an outpatient clinic where we handle mostly geriatric patients with non-communicable diseases like hypertension and diabetes. Life was going on normally until around the first week of March 2020 when my country recorded its first case of COVID-19, and since then, the number of cases has been on the increase.
As the numbers kept going up, the government had to do something, so most states in my country initiated a lockdown. The state where I lived was locked down completely, and this made the number of patients that came to the out-patient clinic to reduce drastically. Hence my superiors asked most of us the younger staff to stay at home in the meantime.
New home for lockdown
My experience being at home for the last couple of days has not really been so much fun. I am a lover of the outdoors, but now I am mandated to stay home to stay alive and for the safety of others. So to escape loneliness and boredom, I decided to move back to my parents’ place for the lockdown.
We are four in the house; myself, mom, dad, and older brother. This way, the boredom is reduced greatly because I now have people to talk with, and this has actually helped me maintain my sanity. I cannot imagine staying alone in my apartment in a time like this; it would have been disturbing emotionally.
Meanwhile, the city we live in has not recorded any case of coronavirus. Despite that, it has been on total lockdown. All businesses were closed down except for grocery stores, hospitals, pharmacies, banks, shopping malls, and every other essential business place. But businesses like phone stores, boutiques and all other non-essential business were shut down. People are only allowed outside to go and get food and other essentials. Also, interstate travel has been banned, all this was done by the Governor of the state to avoid having any coronavirus case at all.
Community
However, this has been a very difficult period for people who depend on a daily income for survival. A large percentage of people in my country depends on daily incomes to survive, and this has actually put them in a bad place. It also made people flaunt the stay-at-home rule. They believe that staying at home was like signing their death warrant as they didn’t have much to eat at home.
It became a major concern for the government and non-governmental organizations like churches and some private individuals. So they began to do food banks across the country. Different churches distributed food items to communities, and the government stated that they distributed roughly $5 million to families that are within the poverty line.
Look to the future
For people like myself who work for the government and some other private firms, it has not been all bad because the government has ensured that the monthly salaries are being paid promptly and those on pension funds are being paid too. But, it has not been really easy for the lower class in my country, but people are putting hands together to make sure we all come out of this unscathed. We are all trying to be our brother’s keeper.
At the time of writing this, we have 260 cases and six deaths with 35 recoveries in my country. Because of the lockdown initiated in most states, the coronavirus curve is expected to flatten, so I believe that there should be hope for the future.
It’s been a trying time here in Nigeria, but we are all trying our best to pull through it.
