COVID — 19 Shutdown in Nigeria: How Lagos State Can Set the Pace through Innovative Solutions

I have observed with keen interest the jaw-dropping surprise of the coronavirus (COVID — 19) humbling nation-states and grinding its activities to a total halt. Countries are already smelling the taste of the coffee with the looming recession that is set to hit their nations. Many of them like the United States already approved and signed one of its biggest Government Economic Stimulus in history. A whopping 2.2 Trillion dollars was signed by Trump’s administration last week getting ready to tackle the aftermath of the COVID — 19 fallout head-on. But Nigeria’s case quickly comes to mind. I intend focussing on Lagos State where I was born, attended Primary and Secondary education and also acquired a Bachelors’s from the University of Lagos.

Lagos is the epicenter of commercial activities in Nigeria. This is the home of innovation across boards in the nation. Its economy is financially viable, as it generates over 75% of its revenues independent of federal grants derived from oil revenues. It generates the highest internal revenue of all states in Nigeria and with its 2014 GDP pegged at $90 billion, Lagos’ economy stood as the 7th largest in Africa towering well above Cote d’Ivoire and Kenya’s economies. It’s therefore not out of place to say, it’s a pacesetter state which other states of the federation looks up to. In the parlance of the typical “Naija” slang, it must not “fall hand”, meaning it shouldn't disappoint.

With the curfew banning movement with all other commercial and social activities already in place as decreed by the President, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), citizens have increased the volume of their complaints. It’s clear Nigeria’s government took a cue from its Asian, European and American counterparts enforcing a lockdown. But one thing is striking. Measures were subsequently put in place to ensure staying home wasn’t a hell for them. Some of these included:

• Most adults in the United States will get $1,200, although some would get less. For every qualifying child age 16 or under, the payment will be an additional $500.
• Asides the package it had already put in place for salaried employees, the UK Government through its Chancellery announced grants for Self-employed and Freelancers up to a maximum of £2,500 a month.
• Germany signed off on a package of measures designed to help freelancers and small companies stave off bankruptcy or acute liquidity difficulties caused by the coronavirus shutdown. These include grants of €2,500 for freelancers and €5,000 for companies with fewer than 10 employees.
• For France, Austria, Switzerland and a few other countries who have put measures in place to address the harsh economic effects of the COVID — 19, check here.

But Nigeria’s case is unique. More than 69 percent of her population live below the poverty line. For Lagos whose economy is fuelled by small and medium scale businesses, a large part of its inhabitants survives by the daily going out and transacting with others in order to be able to put food on the table. One thing is clear, this lockdown is BRUTAL to them!

Lagos, through the office of the Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu announced relief package put in place especially for the poor communities who are the most hit because of this lockdown. To put things into perspective, just like I have envisioned it, the dreaded killer remains HUNGER. While I was scrolling through Twitter, most people kept begging for any kind of help from just about anyone who cared to listen. Celebrities like Don Jazzy, Mavins Records CEO, was seen to keep asking people to send their bank details as he gifted them some cash through cash transfers. However, my ears quickly picked the sound of a woman speaking on radio to express her problem on Lasgidi FM as she called in to narrate her ordeal. In her own words,

I am a single mother with 3 children who feed by working where they sell food daily. My salary is 700 Naira per day which I always use to buy stuffs like garri, tomatoes, pepper and any other thing the money can buy to feed my children daily whenever I return from work at night.

She continued by saying:

Now that everywhere is shutdown, this morning all I gave my children was garri. I don’t even know what else to do and how to survive the rest of the 14 days. They are already crying at home of hunger

Sadly, I believe she’s not just one of the few cases like experiencing this problem. There are definitely many others here in Lagos thrown deep into this quandary due to this shutdown. Now, you must understand I am not in any way downplaying the lethal capability of the Coronavirus. Without any doubt, it’s a killer hence its global reach. But even the COVID — 19 disease according to health experts has an incubation period of fourteen days of which most of those already infected are asymptomatic, showing no signs of being ill. How many people can survive straight 14 days without food? Even if you say Jesus Christ according to the Bible fasted for Forty days and Forty nights, my next question to you would be —

Are Lagosians Jesus Christ?

Quite clearly, Lagosians (inhabitants of Lagos State) are not and would, therefore, need the government to really be up and doing with effectively distributing relief materials. But HOW?

I have a few suggestions for the government of his excellency, Babajide Sanwo-Olu on how to tackle this situation and perhaps earn more respect from its citizens.

Reactivate Gokada and Opay’s O-Ride Now to Facilitate Effective Door to Door Distribution of Relief Materials

Nigerians are peculiar people. We’ve been terribly abused by successive administration hence the lack of trust by Nigerians towards anything “government” even when it means well. There are many ways it could marshall the distribution especially to her indigent citizens, such as working through Local Government and Community Development Associations (CDA) or using the limited personnel of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA). But the problem remains, how sure are we that EVERYONE who is supposed to benefit from these relief materials gets them? Wonders happen. I mean, a snake has once swallowed as much as 36 million Naira in this country, which made headlines in and outside Nigeria. As this is the case of the stomach of the poor citizens, there may be no time to start prosecuting offenders who embezzled or stole these materials hampering it from getting to the points of need. Courts are even closed as at the time of this publication. Lagos State government can avoid this scenario by quickly as a matter of urgency, reverse its earlier ban (at least for this period) on O-Ride, MAX, and Gokada working with them to act as parcel delivery services system to the citizens. This is even coming at a time when Gokada has pivoted into food delivery.

With proper logistics put in place to move the relief materials which may include essentials like garri, rice, groundnut oil sachets, detergents and even bottled water packs with trucks by large vehicles to designated centers, these riders can then be tasked with going door to door to deliver these materials directly into the hands of those who need them desperately. This will help reduce the concerns of possible interception and cornering of these materials. It will also help to control the possible spread through contact which the government is out to curb by imposing movement ban in the first place. All the riders need to do is just go into each house, knock on each door and deliver the relief materials to them.

It would be achieving efficiency while at the same time promoting Public-Private Partnership. It will also in its bid to fight the virus invariably promote economic activities as these riders are economically engaged in the distribution of relief supplies.

On the flip side, companies like Gokada et al which already have tracking technologies in place can also be used to even help those who can afford to order online and get it delivered. A win-win for the tripartite relationship, (the government through the collection of VAT for online payments, revenue for Gokada and the likes and of course comfort to the end-user who gets their essential supplies delivered at their doorsteps). I must mention here that only essentials should be allowed by the government otherwise the privileged may abuse this opportunity to start ordering luxuries.

Use the Payment Infrastructure of Opay and the likes of MTN Mobile Money to Wire Cash to Lagosians

I heard the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs claims it is already “transferring” cash to the poor Nigerians. As much as I cannot verify this claim to be sure if it’s real or just another case of “audio money”, one thing I can agree with the Central Bank and the Federal Ministry of Finance is the 60 million Nigerians it reports to be unbanked. Almost everyone has a mobile phone with a functioning phone number. The Lagos State Government can as a matter of expediency, partner with Telcos and Fintech companies such as Opay and the likes to get cash to each household which they can use to perhaps keep replenishing supplies through the typical house-shops most people run to keep the hustle alive. These are one of the benefits of fintech innovations where a citizen without a bank can still enjoy the benefits of modern money transfers.

Setup Temporary Factories to Imbue its Productive Capacity in Food Processing

While sharing food already produced is a good idea, the nightmare comes when it runs short on supply. While listening to the President’s televised broadcast on the 29th of March, 2020, he mentioned that sectors such as food processing industries, power, petroleum which we already know are all interconnected will continue to run.

Based on projections from organizations like the WHO, Nigeria may face serious problems should this virus prove difficult for us to handle. While there is the good news of COVID — 19 patients recovery, it’s imperative we don’t start rejoicing just too early. As this virus has been reported to have a fourteen-day incubation period where the victims show no signs, and of course our lack of capacity to test at a large scale, we might as well bit throw caution into the winds and therefore prepare for the worst. This might necessitate a possible extension of the initial fourteen days curfew. Wuhan was locked down for two months, let’s not rule out the possibility of that happening here also.

Should this eventually be the case, the government of Lagos would have demonstrated proactiveness by setting up pockets of Adhoc factories here and there to forestall any possibility of food shortage for her citizens.

One body comes to mind, and that’s Guarantee Trust Bank (GTB). It announced on the 24th of March of its commitment to set up a 100-bed capacity of a fully fitted intensive care unit for COVID — 19 patients to support the government of Lagos State. It has delivered on its promise as Lagos State Government confirmed it has taken delivery of a 110-bed isolation facility on the 29th of March, 2020, all achieved in less than a week. This is a clear case of knowledge transfer shown by the excellent leadership of GTB. I have no doubt in my mind this finesse exhibited by GTB must have come from their flawless organizing of social events such as the GTBank Fashion Weekend and GTBank Food and Drink Festival. Lagos State could also benefit from the experience it will gain by planning and setting up Adhoc factories to cater to exigencies such as food shortage in the possible event of this lockdown being extended.

No doubt Lagos State Government has shown exemplary leadership in the way it continues to handle the COVID — 19 spread in its state, but as they say, there is always room for improvement. This is most certainly going to be one of the biggest tests for Governor Sanwo-Olu who has this golden opportunity to show he has near to infinite elastic limits as this crisis tests him and his team’s leadership and problem-solving abilities.

I write and consult with tech startups employing blockchain, AI and other technology to build great products. Connect with me on LinkedIn and Twitter