- Says Kano ‘Now The Killing Field Of Covid-19 In Africa’
Former Chief Executive Officer of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Prof. Usman Yusuf has accused Kano state Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje of ‘lying’ on the reason behind the wave of deaths that has struck hundreds of residents dead in the state in just about three weeks.
Yusuf, a professor of haematology-oncology and bone marrow trans-plantation said the deaths being termed as ‘strange’ in the media for lack of official confirmation from authorities are not for unknown reasons. He claimed the mass deaths were due to the high rate of community transmission of Covid-19 infection in Kano.
The Kano state government had publicly debunked media reports of strange and massive deaths since the state recorded its first Covid-19 case, insisting that no unusual number of burials had taken place in the state. The government specifically denounced accounts of local undertakers frequenting cemeteries in the city of Kano to bury dead bodies.
In fact, it was only recently that the government announced it will investigate the cause of the disturbing mass deaths.
“The governor is lying, that is what we are saying. People are dying, in just a space of two days, three professors have died and other eminent citizens of Kano,” Yusuf told the Sun in an interview published on Saturday.
“Kano is in deep problem; you people should go and find out. Nigeria is in trouble; Kano is in trouble, if care is not taken, Kano will kill all of us. Nigeria and Nigerians need to wake up to the reality that Kano will bring the whole of Africa down.
“People are dying, the cemeteries are filling up; in every household there is somebody that is sick right now.  Four persons, three professors in the university and my friend, who is a former vicar died yesterday (Monday). Hospitals are shutting down, and the only teaching hospital, there is no capacity, not even hand gloves. They are just telling the president lies,” Yusuf lamented.
Kano has recorded 313 Covid-19 cases as of Saturday, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control said.
Earlier in the week about 640 people were reported to have died. The deaths recorded majorly among the elderly have not receded. This week alone, three professors and another eminent citizen were among scores of residents reported to have died.
On Saturday, The New Diplomat reported that Emir of Rano, Dr Abubakar Tafida Ila II, became the latest eminent victim of the wanton deaths. Rano is one of the five emirates carved out of Kano Emirate last year by Ganduje leaving controversy in its wake.
However, the Kano state government has failed to release a report on its investigation on the cause of the mass deaths following the much criticized ‘verbal autopsy’ it earlier promised to carry out.
Despite the death surge that has caused palpable tension in the second most populous state in the country after Lagos, the Kano state ministry of health says only eight persons have died from coronavirus infection in the state. This has triggered many concerns bordering on transparency in the management of the spiking number of cases in the state.
The former NHIS boss said “Kano is now the killing field of Covid-19 in Africa,” adding that he’s worried the state would soon become the epicentre of Coronavirus in Africa if drastic measures are not taken to curb the virus spread.
He continued: “I have said it, Nigeria is in trouble and the whole world needs to hear. I’m worried; very worried. Nigeria as a nation needs to wake up to the ever-present danger of the cascading domino effect of COVID-19 infection in Kano spreading to the Northwest zone, the Northwest zone infects the rest of the North, the North infects the whole nation, Nigeria infects the West African sub region, which then infects the rest of Africa, thereby destabilising the whole continent.”
Enumerating measures to curtail the rate of the virus transmission in the state, Yusuf said the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 should maintain a heavy presence in the state to rescue it.
“People should immediately be provided with food supplies to enable humane but strict enforcement of total lockdown, which remains the only way of breaking the spread of the virus. Again, the president should address the nation on these deaths with specific plans on what the FGN will do.
“All deaths and infections from COVID-19 should be properly recorded. Swabs should be taken for the COVID-19 test from all corpses to enable proper mapping of the spread of the virus and the protection of contacts,” he added.
