The year 2020 brought with it a host of sad tidings, especially for the citizens of Nigeria who had to look on as our leaders failed at every turn to contain the situation before it went out of control. We witnessed firsthand what happens when those in authority lack the capacity for independent thinking and rely on the actions of other nations to make their decisions. Still, this dependence is often short-lived and never whole, as our leaders often fail to embrace the ideologies and perspectives that keep those nations moving forward. Instead, they adopt only those that suppress their citizens and keep them too subdued to speak out.
This shallow replication of the precepts of other nations is evident in the implementation of the face mask directive as part of the COVID19 prevention protocol. Many of the countries whose footsteps the Nigerian government mimic have since begun relaxing their Covid19 regulations and getting things back to normal. Some states across the U.S. have started rescinding Covid restrictions in recent weeks as cases reduce. In recent news, some countries that are yet to lift face mask restrictions have witnessed them being used in place of regular ski masks to commit crimes like shoplifting.
The indoor mask directive for most of California has also been lifted. New York also lifted its mask requirement on businesses this month. Still, the Nigerian government insists on upholding the regulations despite the vaccine being made available and Covid 19 positive cases in Nigeria being down to a few hundred.
Perhaps what makes this situation more ironic is the fact that the insistence on the use of facemasks in Nigeria is more decorative than effective. A visit to most bank branches in Nigeria will have you scrambling to get a face mask before entry is granted, only to enter into the banking hall to find that the bank officials have no face masks and other bank customers have already taken theirs off. the same thing applies to schools and other public gatherings.
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