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Malaysia receives medical equipment supply from China

PUTRAJAYA: Backed by a strong relationship between the two countries, China showed its empathy to Malaysia in combating an invisible enemy, Covid-19, by contributing a consignment of medical equipment.

The consignment consisted of 100,000 units of n-Cov PCR test kits, 100,000 pieces of N95 Medical Protective Face Masks, 500,000 pieces of 3-ply surgical masks, 50,000 sets of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and 200 units of ventilators.

The consignment was handed over by Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia, Bai Tian to Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, at Wisma Putra here today.

Hishammuddin expressed Malaysia’s deep appreciation for the invaluable support of the Chinese government which clearly reflected the strong partnership between the two countries.

“This is an extraordinary contribution by a country to Malaysia, showing the close friendship, solidarity and consideration both Malaysia and China share.

“To China, it is my promise that Malaysia will make full use of these items and they will be immediately handed over to the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) so that our frontliners who have worked tirelessly will be prioritised in their distribution,“ Hishammuddin said at a press conference after the handover ceremony, here today.

He said, prior to today’s donation, Malaysia had received multiple donations from various provincial governments, non-government organisations, business community and individuals from China.

Meanwhile, Bai Tian said the Chinese government had paid very special attention when Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Hishammuddin expressed their worries about the lack of medical needs in Malaysia, and had succeeded in raising the most urgently-needed medical materials for this country.

“As a good neighbour and close friend of Malaysia, China feels how Malaysia feels, because in the past two months, China had also gone through a strenuous battle against Covid-19.

“The Chinese government and people will never forget how the Malaysian government and people had extended their helping hands during our darkest hours in the battle against Covid-19,“ he said.

Bai Tian said the batch of medical supplies had arrived in Malaysia, and hoped that these materials would help in the fight of the Malaysian government and people against the epidemic.

Besides medical supply, Bai Tian said China would also offer the support of a Covid-19 medical expert team from China, which could come here and work hand in hand with their Malaysian colleagues.

When asked how many and when would the doctors from China arrive here, Bai Tian said it all depended on the request from Malaysia.

“We want to know the actual need on the ground from the hospitals in Malaysia because we have experts from different areas like infection diseases, respiratory and ICU Cares.

“We are ready to offer the best practises and knowledge,“ he said. — Bernama

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March 28, 2020
Stimulus package will flow over the three months, says Azmin

KUALA LUMPUR: Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali (pix) said today that the Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package is to cushion the adverse impact caused by Covid-19 on the population’s well-being.

The Prihatin Rakyat package was announced by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday (Friday).

According to the senior minister, the situation would simply deteriorate without any form of assistance: “Companies won’t be able to operate and have no choice but to retrench their workers. We have to resort to this (stimulus), to save these workers and help employers not to dismiss them.”

“But I am confident that this package is not just about three months but will bring about manifold benefits for the future in economic activities and growth,” he said.

He said this in a programme, Bicara Naratif Pakej Rangsangan Ekonomi that was telecast live today by Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM).

“As we are aware, the world is facing a difficult situation and Malaysia is no exception in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and global economic slowdown.

“Malaysia as an oil producing country is also impacted by falling oil prices. Hence, why we must restructure the country and take the bold step of introducing the RM250 billion stimulus package.

“Our hope is that when the movement control order (MCO) period is over, we can see a situation that is more reassuring,” he said.

Azmin revealed that the Finance Ministry has prepared a module and specifics to all the ministries, in line with their respective responsibilities, on the disbursement of assistance to the target groups, which would be monitored by the Economic Stimulus Package Implementation and Coordination of National Agencies Unit (Laksana).

“We have complete data on the recipients from the B40 and small and medium enterprises (SME).

“As for the M40, we have some setbacks as I mentioned earlier, the government had given less priority to the category. That’s probably the reason why we do not have the complete data but this will be seen to so they too can have their right to assistance,” he added. — Bernama

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March 28, 2020
Condom shortage looms after coronavirus lockdown shuts world’s top producer

KUALA LUMPUR: A global shortage of condoms is looming, the world’s biggest producer said, after a coronavirus lockdown forced it to shut down production.

Malaysia’s Karex Bhd makes one in every five condoms globally. It has not produced a single condom from its three Malaysian factories in the past 10 days due to a lockdown imposed by the government to halt the spread of the virus.

That’s already a shortfall of 100 million condoms, normally marketed internationally by brands such as Durex, supplied to state healthcare systems such as Britain’s NHS or distributed by aid programmes such as the UN Population Fund.

“We are going to see a global shortage of condoms everywhere, which is going to be scary,” Karex Chief Executive Goh Miah Kiat told Reuters this week.

“My concern is that for a lot of humanitarian programmes deep down in Africa, the shortage will not just be two weeks or a month. That shortage can run into months.”

Malaysia is Southeast Asia’s worst affected country, with 2,161 coronavirus infections and 26 deaths. The lockdown is due to remain in place at least until April 14.

The other major condom-producing countries are China, where the coronavirus originated and led to widespread factory shutdowns, and India and Thailand, which are seeing infections spiking only now.

Makers of other critical items like medical gloves have also faced hiccups in their operations in Malaysia.

Goh said Karex was in the process of appealing to the government for an exemption to operate under specific conditions. Malaysia is approving other essential goods producers to operate with half of their workforce.

“The good thing is that the demand for condoms is still very strong because like it or not, it’s still an essential to have,“ Goh said. “Given that at this point in time people are probably not planning to have children. It’s not the time, with so much uncertainty.” — Reuters

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March 27, 2020
MCO: Five jailed three months each after throwing drink cans at police

KUALA LUMPUR: Five men were sentenced to three months’ jail each by the magistrates’ court here today for criminal violence against a policeman who was conducting his duty to prevent the spread of Covid-19, following the Movement Control Order (MCO), effective March 18.

Magistrate M. Saravanan sentenced D. Candran, 38, K. Kandasamy, 50, D. Thavachilan, 34, D. Gunalan, 39, and D. Ravintran, 36, after they pleaded guilty to the charges which were read to them.

The court ordered all the accused to serve their jail terms starting today.

They had used criminal violence by throwing cans of liquor and arguing with Lance Corporal Mohd Adnin Che Ani, a police personnel in the course of performing his duties as a civil servant.

They were all charged with the offense at the Food Truck Site, Jalan Tun Mohd Fuad 2, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, here, at 5pm, March 25, under Section 353 of the Penal Code which provides for a maximum jail term of two years or with fines or both, if found guilty.

According to the facts of the case, on the day of the incident the victim was with his partner patrolling the area and advised a group of men, who were drinking alcohol, to avoid gathering in the open.

The victim ordered all of the accused to present their identity cards, however, two of the accused threw cans of liquor at him while another recorded the situation using his cellphone.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Abdul Khaliq Nazeri called for an appropriate punishment in the form of a deterrent sentence for their offenses during the MCO and to show the public that the court would not compromise especially during the current state of affairs in the country.

The five accused, represented by a lawyer from the National Legal Aid Foundation Erni Ahmad, appealed for light sentences as they were each supporting a wife and family.

Another man, B. Pavitrn, 23, was fined RM1,000 or two months in jail after pleading guilty to moving from a residential area in Danau Murni to a supermarket, a place in the area of infection without the intention of doing anything provided under Section 7(1) of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Measures within the Infected Local Areas) Regulations 2020, at 3.20 am today (March 27).

The accused was charged under Section 7 (1) of the same regulation, which provides for a maximum fine of RM1,000 or imprisonment not exceeding six months or both, upon conviction. — Bernama

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March 27, 2020
Google Announces Changes to AdWords – What Does that Mean For You?

One of the largest platforms in online marketing, Google, has announced many changes to AdWords in the past few months. The new idea of enhanced campaigns to be incorporated through adword changes has many online advertising and marketing professionals wondering about the impact of this on their business campaigns…

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March 27, 2020
Justice For Sambo Abdullahi, Victory For Whistleblowers In Nigeria By Chido Onumah and Godwin Onyeacholem

Whistleblowers are the first line of defence against corruption, crime and cover-ups, according to a 2019 paper by the All–Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on whistleblowing in the UK.

For Sambo Abdullahi, head of internal audit at the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) Plc, it has been one long tortuous journey. Over the past two years, he has been at the receiving end of the retaliation whistleblowers around the world, including in Nigeria, face for shining the light on malfeasance around them: denial of wages, job losses, expensive court cases, abuse, psychological trauma, blacklisting across their sector, and sometimes death.

Abdullahi has been denied his salary and other allowances since December 2017, threatened, blacklisted, arrested and sued. All of this for acting professionally and responding patriotically to the call of the Nigerian government asking citizens to join the fight against corruption by blowing the whistle on corrupt practices and other forms of wrongdoing in the country.

In two separate courts, in Ifo, Ogun State, and Okitipupa, Ondo State, where in a most brazen abuse of judicial process, Abdullahi was summoned to answer charges of defamation levelled against him by his boss, Dr. Marilyn Amobi, Managing Director of NBET, he easily walked through the doorway of victory. Both cases were struck out on account of Dr. Amobi’s lack of seriousness in prosecuting.

The crisis of corruption in NBET has been going on for almost three years and the government appears not to have any solution. The appointment of Dr Amobi as the second substantive MD/CEO of NBET signified doom not only for Abdullahi as head of internal audit but also for the entire staff of the company. The MD withheld Abdullahi’s salary and other emoluments just because he exercised the right to decline participation in her fraudulent activities and rejected an unwarranted deployment to a new department unilaterally created by the MD to continue to perpetrate fraud.

Abdullahi, a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), graduated in Accounting from a reputable university and has over two decades of experience. He acquired experiences from both the private and public sectors before joining NBET. He was the pioneer Head of Internal Audit of NBET in 2012; a position he held till 2016 when Dr Amobi joined the company.

Within one month of Dr. Amobi’s assumption of office, Abdullahi discovered the illegal over-payment of N2 billion to two generating plants, Omotosho Power Plc and Olorunsogo Power Plc, both of which have no Gas Supply Agreement (GSA) and Gas Transportation Agreement (GTA) as required by industry agreement. The implication of this fraudulent transaction is that electricity consumers on a monthly basis pay N2billion in excess of what they ought to have paid if this fraud is averted. It is on record that the very first month the fraud was detected, Dr Amobi assumed the role of internal auditor by signing off the payment vouchers.

Her defence for this unlawful violation was that the mandatory GSA and GTA had been waived. The questions for her are, who approved the waiver? Why was the waiver not extended to other thermal plants? And why did the waiver idea come only after the head of internal audit had uncovered the fraud?

Other transactions that made Abdullahi to incur the wrath of Dr. Amobi was his refusal to endorse other payment vouchers for illegal procurement of alcohol using taxpayers’ money, proposed monthly payment of N2.5million to one Engr. Achinaya (an ex-staff of both NEPA and PHCN) without procurement process, procurement of legal advisory services of Azinge & Azinge and Aelex law firms in gross violation of the Procurement Act, and payment for return flight ticket from London for Dr Amobi to resume work in NBET in violation of the NBET Board-approved benefit compensation packages just to mention a few.

As a retaliation against Abdullahi for doing his job professionally, which to Dr Amobi connotes standing in her way, she colluded with the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation to get rid of Abdullahi and his colleague Waziri Bintube. Both were removed from their duly appointed and NBET Board- approved functions as head of internal audit and Chief Finance Officer respectively. While Abdullahi’s salary was stopped, Bintube was sacked.

In response, the duo wrote a petition to the Ministry of Power in 2017. The ministerial committee report was released in March 2018 and vindicated them, while indicting Dr. Amobi. But despite the minister’s (Babatunde Fashola) directives that Abdullahi’s salary should be restored and Bintube reinstated immediately, and in fact that both workers should enjoy the rights of NBET staff, Dr. Amobi refused to comply with the directives.

Till date, she denies Abdullahi his salaries and Bintube has not been called back. Dr. Amobi heads a government agency supervised by a Ministry, but her insolent defiance of a Ministerial order is unprecedented in the history of public sector administration in Nigeria. And it is strange that this is happening under a government that claims to prioritize due process and accountability in the public sector.

As if the stoppage of salaries and sacking were not enough, Dr Amobi got Abdullahi and Bintube detained in the facility of the State Security Services (SSS) for more than twenty-four hours. Several directives by Babatunde Fashola, then Minister of Power, were rebuffed by Dr Amobi who insisted that as an appointee of President Muhammadu Buhari she would only take directives from the president.

While the issue of salary suspension remained unresolved in spite of interventions from the Ministry of Power, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the office of the Vice President, among others, Abdullahi approached the National Industrial Court in December 2018, twelve months after the unlawful stoppage of his salaries, with Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc, Dr Marilyn Amobi (MD/CEO), Hon Minister of Power and the Ministry of Power as defendants.

On March 11, 2020, Abdullahi (the claimant) once again walked the path of victory with the court delivering judgement in his favour. According to Hon Justice O. O. Oyewumi, the act of the suspension of the claimant’s salaries from December 2017 till date was wrongful; the denial of the claimant’s 2017 and 2018 leave was wrongful; the 1st and 2nd defendants, contrary to its terms and conditions of service, withheld the claimant’s salary and other emoluments wrongfully. The judge ordered the payment of Abdullahi’s salaries and other allowances, noting, “All sums awarded in the judgement is to be paid within 30days of the judgement, failure upon which it attracts 21% interest thereon per annum.”

While the case lasted in court, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Auditor General of the Federation and the Bureau of Public Procurement all issued reports indicting Dr Amobi while recommending her immediate prosecution. Sadly, some higher powers are preventing this from happening.

Governance problems are commonly found in federal government agencies due to either lack of a Board or total collapse of the governance structure. The Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, Alex Akoh, noted in a letter to the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, dated January 7, 2020, that “for the past 14 months, no Board meeting of the company (NBET) was held, a situation which has serious consequences on the corporate governance of the company”. Truth is, no Board meeting of NBET has held since August 2018 when Professor Yemi Osinbajo, then Acting President, ratified the reconstitution of the NBET Board of Directors recommended by Kemi Adeosun, the immediate past Minister of Finance.

The governance collapse in NBET has entrusted the fate of about 80 million electricity consumers in Nigeria in the hands of Dr Amobi who sees herself as not only untouchable, but also a sort of “Alfa and Omega.” She formulates and executes policies at will, such as changing the company organogram whenever she sees any staff as standing in her way. The entire senior management has passed a vote of no confidence in Dr Amobi but despite this and other fraudulent activities traceable to her, no action was taken by the government to ameliorate the problem in the power sector and curb the continuous fraud being perpetrated in NBET.

The Minister of Power of Power Engr. Sale Mamman, in December 2019, made a daring move to respond to the situation by suspending Dr. Amobi from office indefinitely. But curiously, he was overruled by President Muhammadu Buhari in less than two weeks and Dr. Amobi was returned to office.

This forced the Minister to fire a letter dated January 8, 2020, to Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, detailing investigations by the ICPC, EFCC and the reports of the Auditor General of the Federation which implicated the NBET boss “for breach of due process in the award of contracts and several financial wrongdoings.” In that letter copied to President Buhari, the Minister reminded the SGF of “the additional baggage which the suspended MD carries in the light of the anti-corruption stance of the Federal Government.”

If this government wants to be seen as genuinely fighting corruption, the NBET case is a golden opportunity to faithfully demonstrate that conviction. Dr. Amobi has been indicted for corruption by government anti-corruption agencies. The place for her, therefore, is the courtroom, not a cushioned seat of a government agency.

Meanwhile, before Dr. Amobi’s prosecution, government should direct her to obey without delay the judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction in the suit filed by a whistleblower, Sambo Abdullahi, the head of internal audit of NBET.

In addition, government should realize that all whistleblowers deserve full and effective protection from all kinds of retaliation, without which its whistleblowing policy will not succeed as an instrument for reducing corruption in the country.

Onumah and Onyeacholem are with the African Centre for Media & Information Literacy (AFRICMIL)

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March 26, 2020
Water bill exemption, electricity bill discount in Sabah beginning April

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah people will be exempted from paying their water bills and will be given a 30% discount on electricity bills for three months beginning April, according to Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.

He said the exemption and discount were part of the initiatives introduced under the Sabah Covid-19 aid package in an effort to ease the burden and cost of living of affected people in the state following the virus outbreak.

“It will benefit 335,000 domestic water users. In addition, the state will give a 28% discount on electricity bills for three months starting April, on top of the 2% provided by the federal government.

“The discount will involve the state government allocation of RM11.5 million a month or RM35.65 million over the three-month period, and it is expected that 512,000 consumers will benefit from this or equivalent to about 98% of electricity users in Sabah and Labuan,“ he told a press conference, here today.

Earlier, Mohd Shafie announced the RM670 million Sabah Covid-19 aid package comprising three categories namely assistance to frontliners and affected people as well as efforts to strengthen businesses and improve the quality of rural basic infrastructure.

Mohd Shafie said residents of the People’s Housing Programme in Sabah will also be exempted from paying rent for six months starting April, which involved an allocation of about RM21.1 million.

A total of 20,080 households or 110,400 people will benefit from it, he said.

Also included in the package is a 30% discount on quit rent collections for this year, which will benefit 232,774 individuals and 9,184 companies, among others.

However, Mohd Shafie said those who had paid the tax this year would be given rebates next year.

Hawkers are exempted from paying a licence fee by all district councils for this year, which will benefit 26,227 hawkers statewide and rebates will be given for 2021 to those who have paid for the licences this year, he added.

Mohd Shafie said RM30 million would be allocated for allowance payments of 10 months to Village Community Management Councils (MPKK), which will benefit 2,315 MPKK in Sabah. – Bernama

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March 25, 2020
Penang govt allocates RM75m to disbursed as aid

GEORGE TOWN: The Penang government will allocate up to RM75 million under an initiative to rejuvenate the economy that has been ravaged by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow (pix) said the money, in the form of financial incentives, will be disbursed in three components.

The first is directed at those considered most vulnerable. They include hawkers, petty traders, taxi drivers, trishaw peddlers e-hailing drivers, the disabled and those among the low income, or B40, group.

The second group to benefit from the incentive are the blue collar workers. Chow said the money is meant to help them survive and take care of their families.

The third component is to help ensure business continuity when the country gets through the crisis.

Chow, who made the announcement at his daily social media update to the public, said the state government would give a one-off payment of RM500 each to registered petty traders, hawkers, food truck vendors, tour guides, taxi drivers and trishaw peddlers.

E-hailing drivers will be given RM300 each.

Those who live in state public housing units will be exempted from paying rent for two months while those who lease lots at the wet markets, food courts and other similar facilities will not have to pay a month’s rent.

A total of RM3 million from zakat contributions has been set aside to help families of those who have contracted Covid-19.

Chow said the frontliners from the state’s two city councils will each get RM300 in recognition of their role in helping to curb the spread of the virus.

Others who will also benefit from the RM300 payout are uniformed personnel serving under the movement control order (MCO) initiative aimed to curtail the growth rate of Covid-19 infections.

A total of RM10 million has been set aside for the purchase of equipment such as protective suits, surgical masks, hand sanitizers and thermometers.

Entrepreneurs whose businesses have incurred losses as a result of the MCO will be given interest-free loans under the Penang Business Continuity plan. A total of RM30 million has been allocated for this purpose.

The 40 state assemblymen will be provided RM30,000 each to finance relief efforts for their constituents affected by the MCO.

The state will also defer payments for trading lots used by small-scale businesses.

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March 25, 2020
World TB Day 2020: It’s Time for solidarity
At this unique time in history when the world is grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, the WHO Department of Global HIV, Hepatitis and STI Programmes stands in solidarity with governments and communities as they seek to maintain health services
and continue to address the needs of patients suffering from HIV and tuberculosis (TB).

Despite being preventable and treatable, tuberculosis remains the world’s biggest infectious killer and the leading cause of death among people living with HIV (PLHIV), responsible for 32% of the 770 000 lives lost to HIV in 2018. People
living with HIV are far more vulnerable (nearly 20 times more) to TB infection than people without HIV and are three times more likely to die during TB treatment.

While there are proven interventions that reduce TB deaths – such as provision of TB preventive treatment, adoption of novel diagnostics for earlier TB diagnosis and linkage to treatment, and antiretroviral therapy (ART) – we are far behind
in scaling these up, and diagnostic and treatment gaps remain, with only half of estimated TB cases among PLHIV reaching care in 2018, only half of estimated PLHIV with TB receiving ART, and less than half of PLHIV new on ART initiating TB preventive
treatment in a subset of countries which reported globally.

On this World TB Day, WHO highlights two key interventions to reduce unnecessary TB deaths among PLHIV:
- (1) provision of TB preventive treatment for all eligible PLHIV; and
- (2) increased uptake of newer diagnostic tests such as the lateral flow urine lipoarabinomannan assay (TB-LAM.)
As the new Director for the Department of Global HIV, Hepatitis and STI Programmes, I support current efforts to continue and to take to scale TB activities. It’s Time for solidarity!

-Meg Doherty, Director Global HIV, hepatitis and STI Programmes, WHO

HIV programmes are encouraged to ensure that TB preventive treatment, including shorter WHO-recommended regimens, with updated guidance launched today, are provided to all eligible PLHIV as part of a routine package of care, including provision of ART, and that treatment completion is ensured.

In recent months, WHO has also released guidelines for use of a bedside urine TB-LAM test to accelerate earlier TB diagnosis, with significantly expanded eligibility criteria. As this test is “point of care” with the potential for earlier
TB diagnosis and treatment initiation, HIV programmes should consider these recommendations as they enhance strategies for TB diagnosis among PLHIV, including as part of a routine package of advanced HIV care.

It’s Time to urgently scale up TB preventive treatment and TB diagnosis and strengthen referral and linkages to TB treatment at HIV service delivery points in all countries and continue to scale-up ART among PLHIV with TB. This applies to all populations
at risk, including children, pregnant women and marginalized groups, to ensure no one is left behind.

WHO calls for continued collaboration in countries across health programmes for harmonized and integrated policies and service delivery, and engagement with communities and other sectors. Unless HIV programmes scale up interventions to close these
gaps in prevention, diagnosis and treatment both for TB and HIV, countries and their development partners will not meet our common target: a 75% reduction in TB deaths among PLHIV between 2010 and 2020. HIV mortality cannot be reduced without addressing
the leading cause: tuberculosis.

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March 25, 2020
The Political Economy Of Coronavirus By Kunle Wizeman Ajayi

The most powerful person in Aso Rock, Abba Kyari; who is the chief of staff to the president, has tested positive to Covid19. No government official can reach President Buhari without him. There is a ripe suspicion that the kitchen cabinet might have been infected. Likewise in Europe, the most powerful person, Angela Merkel the chancellor of Germany, has been quarantined. While Trump and Boris Johnson took the same path in trying to ignore the pandemic, their governments are in deep crises of the damages and exposures their neglect has caused the citizens.

As I type, the fear of corona virus is the beginning of real wisdom as governments are now banning even churches and mosques from gathering. The Nigerian federal ministry of health has announced 42 cases so far. And even the mass of working people who have hitherto doubted our thieving class so far, are now more wary and precautionary over their immediate safety without relying on the failed health institutions. People seldom shake hands now. Corona waves na the way to greet now! That corona virus has turned a corruption racket is what will be duly discussed another day.

Industries are closing down as Wall Street falls like pack of cards. US President Donald Trump is shouting “cuts” for the working class and bail-outs for industries and big business. Whereas, Socialist presidential aspirant Bernie Sanders is calling for “healthcare for all” as well as pay for all US citizens staying at home during the pandemic days. The globalised trend of the corona virus needs a global understanding and lessons of how the world is being ruled everywhere. The way US rulers have failed to care for the poor and invest in proper and compulsory healthcare for all but private pharmaceutical companies who make healthcare a commercial quantity that only the rich can afford, is the same way Nigerian rulers failed to build hospitals and kept allocating between 4 to 6% budgetary spending on education while them and their children spend billions on medical tourism. Also, Boris Johnson’s UK government is renting “beds at hospitals.” This is unlike Spain that has nationalized its healthcare!

The price of crude oil has fallen globally. The global stock exchange has crashed as workers can no longer go to work and make great wealth for their casino. Coronavirus has superceded SARS with its speedy spread and effects globally. So the world economic crises have been, for the first time, propelled by a health crisis. What can the Left and the revolutionaries in Nigeria make out of this global crises that could leave no island untouched?

Naomi Klein, the author of the classic ‘The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism’ has come up to warn that “if you’re a hard-core free-market economist, you understand that when market fails it lends itself to progressive change much more organically, than it does (when) the kind of deregulatory policies emerge. Political and economic elites understand that moment of crises is their chance to push through their wish list of unpopular policies that further polarize wealth…”

I argue that while the government in Nigeria has reduced the cruelly expensive cost of petrol by just #20, and there is lipservice to building new hospitals, there is a larger probability of massive corruption as the federal government has already declared #2trillion intervention fund. Why we the working people have to very much care is because the same elements who created the crises (whichever ways) would end up profiting largely from the crises. This just as many military officers and politicians are billionaires courtesy the Boko Haram war.

The interplay of methods of these corruptive accumulations on one hand, and the trajectory of working class resistances is critically assessed weighing up why and how the working people were at the loosing ends at the 2008/9 global economic crises that made the Central Bank under the Soludo/Sanusi bail-outs policies made the criminal banks even richer than before. Though a few bank MDs and top officers were detained on “hospital beds” and such other “ajebutter” prisons; no bank owner was even questioned.

The fact that both the US and Nigeria are rich governments that have bad healthcare policies, discussing social infrastructures as class struggle under this system of “primitive accumulation” needs to be knocked up as perspectives to guide millions who want an end to crises and build another world that would be for all and not a tiny thieving few.

A CLASSLESS PANDEMIC

The corona virus has shown that the gap between the rich and the poor is just an artificial creation. The nature of humans is more communal than competitive. Plenty of the rich mouth the fact that we are all equal, but some are more equal than others. This virus is a threat to all and shows that the world can organize together and defeat any virus that attacks it. Crises like this shows that there is no policy that is pro-rich that can save society. Most of the capitalists who rule our world have been saying that government cannot help all and cater for the needs of majority. They tend to tell us that getting “healthcare for all” is rocket science. Corona virus has proved that all that is wrong!

Meanwhile, many Nigerians are debating as to the cause of corona virus, and why it has drawn more attentions than malaria that kills about 800 everyday and child mortality that murders about 300 women daily. These debates became rife when Ibrahim Magu; head of the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) asserted that “corona virus is caused by corruption.” His position, while quite misleading, is correct to the point that the virus is actually caused by the greed of man in unsettling the animal and forest lives. Most of the viruses live in the wildest of forests but humans go in and destroy their habitats. These make the virus homeless and have to migrate to live with humans.

The corona virus has also made the Nigerian politicians to have no escapist lives again. Most of them used to go abroad for medical tourism. But there is nowhere to run to now! This is why revolutionaries must use this chance to support striking doctors and demand for free, functionally standard and compulsory healthcare for all. We do not want a situation where the ruling class would use state wealth to build defence and cure for corona virus, only for the rich, instead for all. We must avoid repeating case of the last economic meltdown where what we could see is socialism for the rich and leave the poor uncatered for. This is why we must all reject the paltry #20 that was reduced from oil price as well as condemn the full devaluation of the naira. These policies will make the rich eat their cake and have it. Petrol price should be reduced to at least #45 while naira should be strengthened. The time to consider the #RevolutionNow demands of an “economy for the majority” is now!

2008/9: A FLASHBACK

When the 2008 global economic meltdown stormed Nigeria, the rulers ordered “technocrats” to adopt the Obama measures in bailing out the banks and their thieving managers. After prosecuting five CEOs of Afribank, Oceanic, Finbank, Intercontinental, and Union bank, The CBN went ahead to put #460bn as bail-outs for the banks after recovering just #70bn. The CEOs lost their posts for giving out #700bn loans without collateral. The loans portfolio of the bank, according to CBN, is #2.8tn. The richest guys in the country were involved in this public racket and were never touched. A good instance is Aliko Dangote who had a loan worth $15m with Oceanic Bank but got elected to replace Ndi OKereke as Nigerian Stock Exchange president. The same person has the monopoly of trading in rice, salt, sugar, textiles, and vegetable oil. The same persons who created the crises in the same place got rewarded after the crises. This is what Naomi Klein is warning about. For the rich, socialism is never good for the majority. The rich, in the time of corona virus and other disasters, want bail-outs but never for the working people. Just as Omoyele Sowore noted; “when crises arises, capitalism retires and socialism becomes the messiah!

We must start asking for Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) from the federal government. Every Nigerian must each be paid at least #100,000 monthly as the corona virus effect billing. We should also demand a standard hospital per 5 streets with the doctors and nurses paid appropriately!

THE TRUMP/BUHARI DISORDER

President Buhari’s address to Nigerians has failed to address the pandemic. Trump’s tweets are of the same mental disorders like those of the ministers and officials of Buhari’s government.  Trump boasted that the “virus is under total control…The market will take care of itself,” he had to recant after the Dow Jones Industrial closed with its worst one-day decline since 1987; “The market will be very strong as soon as we get rid of the virus.”

“But even as he was doing so, Trump maintained that he hadn’t said the virus was “under control,” which is something he has most definitely said on many occasions — along with other attempts to play down fears” CNN noted.

Garba Shehu and other spokespersons of President Buhari have also been speaking from all sides of their mouths. They first downplayed the effect of the virus by revealing that malaria has been killing hundreds…Until they made some allocations of about $1.2trillion to the virus effects. The question remains the goals of the government. Many Nigerians do not trust the same government that has never given as much as 8% budgetary allocation to healthcare since the Buhari regime came into place, just like the PDP governments before it. While the president is one of the most sick, he prefers to betray electoral promises and visit private hospitals in the UK for months instead of building standard public health care.

Working people in US,UK, and Nigeria should look beyond their reactionary rulers and make real political demands that will make sure the same rogues who cause the crises don’t come back to claim to be the super heroes of the same crises. The case of Ebola and Lassa in Nigeria are classics in this regard. While Nigeria was lucky to get over the Ebola case with the sacrifice of health officials; Lassa fever has killed thousands so far loosely tackled because rodents most likely cannot enter luxury houses.

Nigerians should be aware that both Buhari and Trump are exponents of crazy capitalism and prefers to give false answers to real threats and would only be falsely apologetic later. We must understand that the rulers are neither interested in our well being nor our future. Their fear is that the virus should never become for all. They prefer crises for just the masses. But oga corona no mind. This is why despite Trump trying to call it Chinese virus or Buhari trying to boycott addressing the country, nothing matters to the working people than having a healthy society. Arms in arms, we will have to care for one another and defeat the most dangerous virus ever in the history of the world!

OPIUMS ON THE CROSS

Pastors in Nigeria, aside the ban on public and mass gatherings, are seriously on trial! Many a youths are asking what their “God” would do in this time of corona virus to save the followers from untimely deaths. The first pastor to become so fearless had predicted that he would go to China to cure the virus. But by the time the Italian became the first case in view; the pastor got admitted in a hospital for unknown reasons.

Also, the mosques are closing shop. Even many are contemplating drinking alcohol to help in preventing corona virus. Despite the fact that many a churches and mosques become well attended public places, the belief in better life and a prosperous world without danger have been the egg tacts around the building of these beliefs. Saudi Arabia has stopped religious visitations. Government everywhere is banning all worshipping junctures. If these bans have been summoned by political demands of the left, it couldn’t have sailed through but the struggle is being marshaled by a pandemic. Bernie Sanders was seen as too extreme but most of those pro-establishment strollers must be shitting in their yanshes now!

Karl Marx was very clear that “religion is the opium of the masses, the soul of the soulless.” The realizations of the fact that the immediacy of the problems of society can only be derailed if the people think that there is an umbrella or belief that can make some magic. With corona now, even the state that employs religion is not apologetic in banning its public activities. Sadly, many priests still in shock as to a possible demarketing have kept on lying to their congregations. A viral video shows a pastor saying “coronavirus cannot enter Nigeria where there is corrosive anointing;” so cocky in ignorance.  Such public ranting must be condemned.

CONFUSION BREAK BONE; NAIJA HEALTH IN CRISES

When the deposed emir of Kano, former CBN governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, was banned to Awe in Nassarawa State; the town has two (2) doctors to two hundred thousand (200,000) people. Such is the metaphor of health care in Nigeria.  Most doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel have migrated to other climes in an unprecedented brain drain. As Yusuf posited “7 out of 10 Nigerians live on less than $1.25 (~500 Naira) a day and they also live in a country where 70% of health expenditures are out-of-pocket payments. Nineteen years after the Abuja Declaration where African Union states pledged to allocate at least 15% of their annual budget to health, Nigeria continues to default. With over 23,584 public primary health care facilities, 8,290 private primary health care facilities and 200,000 patent and proprietary medicine vendors (PPMVs) in Nigeria, yet the country’s health indices and other health indicators continue to remain abysmal without any significant improvement compared to other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Citizens are condemned to self-care using several unregulated drugs and African raw herbs. The yearly allocations to health care in the budget never rise beyond 6 and 8%. This is despite the fact that Aisha, wife of President Buhari once publicly complained that Aso rock clinic has no syringe! At the Teaching hospitals, one has to pay heavily to get health care as the state has been practicing health care commercialization. The medical equipments are really not there while there are so poor remunerations of medical personnel. Yet, when Ebola came knocking in 2014, the health workers paid the sacrifices.

Corona virus is global and has now halted the medical tourism of the rich class of whom President Buhari is the chief. If not for Covid-19, he would have gone visiting his London doctors for the umpteenth time!

The health workers’ unions have been fighting for a better system for years. This has been led by the Joint Health Staffs Union (JOHESU) and the Nigeria Medical Associations (NMA.) JOHESU has led enormous strikes and pickets but the neo-liberal policies of the ruling class keep ignoring these strikes. As I write, doctors in Abuja are on strike. The rulers are now in a quagmire. This is the time for the unions to collaborate with the civil society and revolutionary movements to take up the state and fight for “free health care for all.”

THE EXAMPLE OF CUBA

Fidel Castro’s people are the certified global doctors today!

A small island at the backyard of the United States of North America; Cuba is a state-capitalist economy led by revolutionary socialists. While the state have yet boomed since 1959 as a result of the prevailing capitalist globe, it has been vociferous on social welfarism especially education, food, health, and housing. This has been the minimum with which the Communist Party has been working on since the revolution. With its third president in charge now; Cuba is the country that is now rescuing the world from the genocide of corona virus. The vessel that is wholly affected by the virus has been shipped to the Cuban shore and Cuba has been treating the patients on board. Italy is receiving about 200 Cuban doctors and nurses as the catholic country leads the population of casualties. The Cuban health statistics shows that 98% is living healthily just as education is 98.5%.

Cuba stood by the world on hurricane Katrina; by South Africa against apartheid; by Angola against imperialist Portugal, and now that “God-forsaken communist country” stands by the world with the best of its great medical care against corona virus. This is a lesson that we need to abide by and make the world a socialist island. The current system of “greed and power” is a pandemic. It is ruled by political viruses that live mainly on primitive accumulations of the sweat and blood of the majority. The working class of all lands should unite and fight capitalism to the ruins and replace it with a world led by the people who make the wealth, not those who do nothing but steal the wealth.

IN ALL; THIS PANDEMIC WILL FALL

The struggle for a safer world is in danger of that “common ruins of the contending classes.” Italy, Nigeria, Spain, China, US, and some others have recorded deaths through corona virus. It is currently rumoured that some senators and members of the House of Representatives have contracted the deadly virus. We have 582 deaths in US and 46,145 cases with only 295 recoveries. One death has been recorded in Nigeria with 46 cases recorded. 6,777 are dead out of 63,927 cases in Italy. China has 16,578 dead in 382,570 incidents. Germany has 29,056 with 123 people dead. German chancellor, Angela Merkel has been quarantined. India with over 1 billion population has about 500 cases with no deaths.

The Indian case is very peculiar in lessons for Nigeria. Public health care in all tiers is free and subsidized for those below the poverty line. The Indian health sector encompasses 18% of total outpatient care and 44% of total impatient care. Middle and upper class use public health care less than those with a lower standard of living

The Covid19 pandemic has exposed big countries like Britain, US, China, Nigeria, and others. The pandemic have also exposed capitalism as an idea that is deficient to the mass of working people. The idea does not care for the majority but the thieving minority. The rich continue to be richer while the poor becomes poorer. We need labour and civil society to work together and reconstitute revolutionary relationships to make sure that working people does not be at the receiving end of this pandemic. We must remember that those who destroy the country must not be allowed to continue with their madness after the covid19. We must demand for #FreeHealthCareForAll!

We must also demand that world-class hospitals are built massively all over the country and we leave the madness of neo-liberalism in the dustbin of ruins. To do these works, we need a movement of the working people dedicated to the revolution that will build a country for all like the Take It Back movement and the Coalition for Revolution (CORE). Socialist organizations like the Socialist Workers and Youth League (SWL) serve as the political tribunes that remind us all on the ideal and alternatives to the rot that is causing pandemics and wars to the world today.

Capitalist presidents that combine neo-liberalism and fascism are in deep shit today as the covid19 has exposed their inefficiencies and monumental social infrastructural dangers. The health of the world is the safety net to our wealth. Why would we allow those who care about the wealth alone to continue to rule us? Why should we continue to allow those who think of only the individual and never the collective to continue to rule us? When Greta Thunberg was leading the climate change campaigns, Donald Trump was scolding her. Bernie Sanders, Jeremyn Corbyn, Omoyele Sowore, Elvo Morales, Bobbi Wine and other revolutionary change-seeking eggheads have all campaigned for another world; the point is for we the working people and all oppressed, in unity and action, lead #RevolutionNow to get a life warranty of #FreeHealthCareForAll!

Nigerians should demand for Cost of living allowance (COLA) of at least #100,000 in order to survive as the country is being locked down. We all must observe hand washing regularly; social distancing; avoid touching of faces, and other sophisticated parts of the body. Government should provide water, gloves and hands sanitizers to all. There is no electricity just as there is very poor housing for the majority of the people. We need the majority of empty house in cities and towns to be massively redistributed. Electricity must be renationalized.

With all unity and actions, we will defeat the yet another genocidal virus. This also tells us that we must choose to build the world for all and not for the few as the threat of grand barbarism stares us all in the face once again. Rosa Luxembourg would be rolling and smiling in her grave as we are condemned to learn from her battle cry: “socialism or barbarism!”

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Kunle Wizeman Ajayi

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March 25, 2020