COVID-19: Nigeria’s innovations

Here in Nigeria, in the midst of all the sad news a cheering achievement is coming out of the sleepy town of Jos, in Plateau state, as people are cautiously happy that there is no recorded case of the coronavirus. There is however, a  debate as to whether there are cases but just because we […]

Here in Nigeria, in the midst of all the sad news a cheering achievement is coming out of the sleepy town of Jos, in Plateau state, as people are cautiously happy that there is no recorded case of the coronavirus. There is however, a  debate as to whether there are cases but just because we are not exactly testing, there may be some undiscovered cases, while another section typical of Nigerians and the world have become enmeshed in the current conspiracy theory of 5G and coronavirus. They have suddenly left the Chinese Virus and the economic power house theories, and are dwelling on insinuations that Obama said “do not collect vaccines” or “Bill Gates manufactured the disease”. Anyway, let us forgive all those that would not have heard or those that heard but possibly will be quick to forget Williams Gyang and Nura Jibrin, two men and friends that repaired two ventilators at Jos University Teaching Hospital free of charge for the use of COVID-19 patients.

Gyang is a civil servant working with the state-owned Plateau Radio Television Corporation. He works in the Engineering Department, and a student at the Plateau State Polytechnic studying Electrical Electronics. He had never fixed ventilators before. But had been involved in repairing other electrical equipment.

Nura Jibrin on the hand lives in Mista Ali, a community in Jos; he is an artisan. He fixes solar power gadgets, mobile phones, allied electrical and electronics. Armed with just an education from Government Technical College, Bukuru in the Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State. He’s been at repairs for two decades, no further education, as there was no opportunity.

They had both never seen a ventilator before. They did not spend any money to fix them.

Finally, on this introductory story both men are friends, who had been working together for some 17 years. They finished from the same technical school and became friends and always share ideas and compare notes on the skills they both acquired. Gyang is a Berom man from Plateau State and a Christian. Nura is muslim from Borno State, they both worked together and live in peace because we need each other as we live our lives.

Dr. Prince Charles Dickson  [email protected]