Defusing the Kano Bomb

Kano, the most populous state in Nigeria, is in the second week of its own version of Covid-19 induced lockdown. With testing for the infection suspended for many days, it is unclear how bad the situation on the ground really is. This should be a serious cause for concern to public health authorities. The closure […]

Kano, the most populous state in Nigeria, is in the second week of its own version of Covid-19 induced lockdown. With testing for the infection suspended for many days, it is unclear how bad the situation on the ground really is. This should be a serious cause for concern to public health authorities.

The closure of the only testing centre for Covid-19 followed non adherence to the testing protocol in the operation of the centre, leading to the infection of some of the medical staff working there. In addition, even some members of the state task force on the infection tested positive to the virus, making the committee to appear comatose for some period.

To his credit, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje has announced a number of measures to deal with the challenge of Covid-19 since it first reared its head in the index case in Lagos. The measures included setting up an isolation centre, a task force under the Deputy Governor to deal with all related matters, and a committee to provide some palliative to the very poor. Much more than those measures are needed urgently.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the state needs all the help it can get from the federal authorities, the organized private sector and all Nigerians. We are aware of the big helping hand of Kano-born richest African, Aliko Dangote, who singlehandedly committed resources to turn the indoor theatre of the Sani Abacha stadium into a 200-bed hospital to handle cases of infected people.

Just yesterday, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC) provided an ambulance, two sets of ventilators, Personal Protection Equipments (PPE), etc to the state government.

On its part the state government is asking for N15 billion from the Federal Government to be able to handle the challenge it faces. Daily Trust supports the call for more resources to strengthen the state’s capacity to do more in the face of the challenge at hand. But we also understand that it is not just about money as both the Federal Government and private sector supporters will be concerned about the use of such funds for the purpose they are provided for or donated.

Our call to the Federal Fovernment is to hasten the resumption of testing in Kano and not just at one centre but several in order to address the backlog of suspected cases there.

There is also the need to release supporting funds to the Kano authorities as done to Lagos State where the index case of Covid-19 first surfaced in February. We also call on the private sector committee better known as Cacovid to step in and provide support in the area of test kits and PPE that are critical for dealing with the infection at hand.

As it is, there appears to be a growing concern within the Kano medical establishment regarding treating cases that appear unrelated to Covid-19.

The single help that Nigeria can provide Kano is to upscale its capacity to test, test and do more tests. It is such tests that can give an indication of the infection in the most populous state.

This will enable the health authorities to take the necessary measures to deal with the infection and douse the growing hysteria whereby even deaths that may be unconnected with the infection are suspected to be such. As it is becoming clear, Kano like Lagos is very cosmopolitan and a problem there can easily spread to other areas because of the high level of business and social interaction with other states.

It is instructive that both the index cases in Plateau and Adamawa states had recent travel history to Kano. In addition to massive testing in Kano, additional public enlightenment is also needed to address those who assume that Covid-19 is not real or will not affect them. In the event that lockdown of the state is necessary, there is need to also provide more palliative that reaches a greater number of those in need as the one done so far is reaching too few and with little impact.