“Turning and turning in the widening gyre, the falcon cannot hear the falconer. Things fall apart, the center cannot hold. Mere anarchy is loose upon the world” – Chinua Achebe (Culled from a poem by William Yeats 1919)
The above quotation from what can be easily described as Chinua Achebe’s bestselling novel, “Things Fall Apart”, aptly captures the devastation that the Coronavirus has wrought upon our world Words fail me in describing the sudden chaos and calamity that has befallen the world; the forces that should bring order are devastated
and seem unable to hold the world order together.
The seemingly unrelenting and ravaging Coronavirus scourge has posed one of the greatest threats and challenges ever to the entire world since the Second World War. It has become a major gamechanger to our value systems and, to a very large extent, the way we live our lives thereafter.
The world can never be the same again. A whole lot of changes will take place when all this is over. The usual world dynamics will change. There shall be realignments of Nations and what today constitutes the Super Powers shall be redefined. What the above scenario portends for Africa in general, and Nigeria in particular, would depend largely on the kind of leadership that will emerge from the ashes of the epidemic.
It is therefore in line with the anticipated New World order that a proactive government should galvanize and catalyze the floating of a COVID-19 humanitarian SPV, comprising the Organized Private Sector (OPS).
The OPS should come under an umbrella of the National Chamber of Commerce, charged with providing and developing a road map to drive the process of post COVID-19 restoration.
This should be strictly private sector driven. And If the States wish to participate, they shall be most welcome to make their financial and/or material contributions. But stay out of its operations. By the time that the devastation of COVID-19 pandemic subsides, the SPV should metamorphose into a permanent development Institution.
Economic survival post-COVID-19 shall not be the usual survival of the fittest but will be in conformity with Darwin’s theory of evolution – Natural Selection – where survival will only be for those species that can adapt to the prevailing environment.
This is therefore a most auspicious time for the country and all regions in the federation to put on their thinking caps, assemble some of their brightest and best minds, both in Nigeria and in the diaspora, to assist in coming up with strategies and stratagems of navigating through the impending catastrophic economic and socio-political consequences in the aftermath of the Corona scourge.
Let the Private Sector seize the moment, take ownership of this initiative and spearhead a national renaissance. Those companies and individuals that have contributed monies to the
COVID-19 Fund are hereby highly appreciated and commended, but methinks that such donations are better managed by a committee appointed by the key donors, and not the Federal government. This way the funds won’t get mismanaged and misappropriated like previous intervention funds such as the OMPADEC, DIFRI and most recently the
NDDC.
If eventually the various State and Federal governments realize the challenges ahead and the existential threats to Nigeria as a country, then now is the time to simultaneously start to articulate what could be termed Nigeria’s version of a Marshall Plan, while combating
Coronavirus.
The countries in the African continent, particularly Nigeria, have to gird their loins and prepare for the worst. They have to be proactive in confronting what would turn out to be one of the worst challenges and recessions in world history. Perhaps one of the fallouts of this pandemic could either be a restructured or fragmented Nigeria or the emergence of competent and capable leadership across the country. A lot will depend on how the leadership of the country handles the trying and unprecedented viral attack on the
world.
Only time will tell.
Note: Iroche is a seasoned Finance Executive with over thirty years’ experience in Banking, Power and Public Service. He has served on various boards such as the International Glass Industries Limited and GTBank Sierra Leone.
