Covid-19

Pandemic 2020

Reflective Memoir
By
Olayinka G. Okeola
 Dedication

2013/14 set of Civil Engineering Students

University of Ilorin. Nigeria

June 2020
I believe. . . .
 “The only real
mistake is the one
from which we
learn nothing”
-Henry Ford
 Covid-19 Fashion We Nigeria IP - Mohd Adamu
won’t forget soon

Lagos State Governor,

FCT Minister of State.
Sanwo-Olu
Dr Ramatu Aliyu
 Ondo State Gov. Akeredolu

Sanwo-Olu

Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro talks with

his interim Health Minister (white mask)

Cross River Gov. Ben Ayade Oni of Ife

Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkennazi at a French President Macron
function with Germany counterpart

Olayinka Okeola, DWREE, University of Ilorin, Nigeria

Slovakia
Slovak Government
Not Mafia !
 L-R: Director General, NCDC,
Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu; SGF
and Chairman, Presidential
Task Force on Control of
COVID-19, Boss Mustapha;
President M. Buhari;
Minister of Health, Osagie
Ehanire, during a meeting on
control of COVID-19. May 31

Swearing-in 8
newly appointed
judges for Lagos
State by the Gov.
Sanwo-Olu. May 2020
 ASUU President
Words on the
marble
“A conscious and
determined investment
in university education
at national and sub-
national levels would
give our country quality
medical scientists,
behavioural scientists,
creative scholars and
other creams of
informed citizens who
can respond intelligently
to challenges like the
COVID-19 pandemic”

Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi

“The Federal Government keeps
“ Vaccines and
comparing Nigeria with the ventilators are products
crisis in developed countries of intellect. No society
and advanced industrial could rise above its level
societies. Those people can of educational
development”. April 28
draw from their pool of
scientists. Britain will not have “ The
generation of “To address the
to come to Nigeria to solve its the Minister of challenges in
health challenges. It is Nigeria labour and other sectors,
productivity, Dr
that will look up to them. China Chris Ngige, that
you need a
will not look up to Nigeria to ask attended public functional
universities 40 university
for health workers to assist years ago, education, not
them. See, all the (Chinese) should weep
these
over the present
people they sent to us to poor state of the mechanistic
address the challenges of country’s approaches to
tertiary the universities.”
COVID-19 are products of a institutions.”
university system” April 21 June 2
UK Prime Minister Johnson was admitted for
Covid-19 infection in St Thomas' Hospital
hospital. He was later transferred to Intensive
Care Unit. He did not come to Nigeria or fly to
Germany. The police are not carrying AK47. No
military battalion outside the hospital
Jenny Luis
The PM, Mr Johnson said it was hard for
him to find words to express his debt “to
the health service”. Johnson thanked the
nurses but he singled out two, Jenny
(New Zealand) and Luis (Portugal) “who
stood by my bedside for 48 hours when
thing could have gone either way”.

13% of NHS workforce (i.e..

153,000 staff) are not
British. They include Indian
approx. 21,000. This is
followed by Filipino, Irish,
Johnson Polish and Portuguese

Reflection: This is one of the ironical

reflection of ASUU president
 The way we think about death has a
considerable impact on our quality of
Abba Kyari, the Chief of life. Accepting death as a part of life
Staff to President serves as a spur to diligence and saves
Muhammadu Buhari dies us from wasting our time on vain
of Coronavirus. distractions. While we are all equal in
having to meet death, each of us
prepares for it in his own way. MR
For Bernard Shaw, Irish Playwright, life levels all men but death reveals the eminent.
Abba May
Allah
Kyari grant
laid the
to soul
aljanah
rest Fidausi.
Amin.
 April 21: Oculus mall and Catania, Italy, March 21. Italian
transportation hub virtually empty at soldiers in protective mask at road
World Trade center due to covid-19 block reinforcing the lockdown to
pandemic combat coronavirus disease
Initially, American President, Donald Trump;

“It cannot happen to us”.

“The virus will not have a chance against us”,
“It is democratic hoax”
“Americans should relax”
“We can’t have the cure be worse than the
problem”
“You have a leader that will always fight for you
and I will not stop until we win”.
You are looking inside James Brady Briefing room, White House.
President Donald Trump speaks on Coronavirus. March 23
You are looking inside James Brady Briefing room, White House. President
Donald Trump speaks on Coronavirus. First right at the Trump back is Vice
President Pence. March 23
We salute
you all,
the
frontline
workers
during the
Covid-19
Pandemic

God bless
you all
worldwide
 Where do you
stand on
humanity ladder?

After leaving the White

House, President Bill
Clinton said that no matter
the good intention of
government programme it
won’t reach some people
and it is only individuals
that can reach them.

“I have answered this call

in my little possible means”
-OG
Donations largely received from
my former students. May God
accept their contributions and
grant them the silence prayers of
the beneficiaries of their
donations. I am just a messenger.
17 people (individuals and
household) all victims of
lockdown benefited including 4
very senior citizen. Location:
Ilorin and Ile Apa village, Unilorin
Campus
- OG
 Islamic Society of Central Florida, USA April 9:
Volunteers distribute food from the second Harvest
Food bank of Central Florida to needy families.

A volunteer for World Central Kitchen distributes

meals to Miami residents. USA.

A community in Lagos with donated loaf of bread

A volunteer delivers a food box to a
woman the Antrim County, Northern Ireland
 Lagos: Residents of Otto-Ilogbo community with donated items
Volunteers are providing food delivery services to people
across large part of rural England

Medical equipment donated to African Union

Turkish plane with second batch of medical member states by Jack Ma, founder of Ali
aid lands in USA, May 1 Baba Group
Easter 2020 Around the World

Pope Francis
Police officers stand guard in St. Peter’s Square (can
take 70,000) at the Vatican as Pope Francis hold his
Easter Sunday mass with no public audience
 Pastor Brian
Hill leads a
drive-in Easter
service in the
parking lot of
First Baptist
Church in
Corpus Christi,
Texas

Pastor Cliff Lea

preaches over
a parking lot
filled with cars
during a drive-
in service at
the First
Baptist Church
of Leesburg,
Florida.
 People stand far
apart while
participating in
service at the
Yoido Full
Gospel Church
in Seoul

Priest Xavier
Lemble holds an
Easter mass with
photos of
parishioners in
the pews in
Bethune, France.
April 12
Holy Month of Ramadan First day Around the World

Grand Mosque Aerial view deserted on Ramadan day 1

(April 24) in Saudi Holy City of Mecca
 Left: Closed Mosque
in Grozny, Russia

Right: An empty
Mosque in Madrid,
Spain
 Esat Sahin, Imam of the iconic Faith
Kuala, Malaysia: Imam leads payer inside
Mosque, holds a prayer without public
empty national mosque broadcast live
attendance in Istanbul, Turkey, April 24

The third significant Al-Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem old City: Lahore, Pakistan: Security Personnel stand guard as
Palestinians observed the first Friday of the holy months Muslims queue to maintain social distancing on entering
keeping distance near the mosque closed gate. a mosque to offer Friday prayer, Day 1 of the Holy month.
 Covid-19 Key Effects
World Wide Covid-19
Infection (June 20)
1.5 billion learners are 8.6 Million and over 460,594 deaths
at home including more than 119,100 dead in
USA according to Johns Hopkins
-UNESCO 2020 University & New York Times
database respectively

436 million Businesses Disrupted

-International Labour Organization (ILO)

Worldwide, more than 436 million enterprises face high risks of

serious disruption. These enterprises are operating in the hardest-hit
economic sectors, including some 232 million in wholesale and retail,
111 million in manufacturing, 51 million in accommodation and food
services, and 42 million in real estate and other business activities.
 Exaggerations. . . Alarmists. . .
Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of May 8; Covid-19: Treatment centers
Nigeria through Alhaji Yakubu Bello: running out of bed spaces. – FG
Members across the country lost over N5 Is the citizenry to provide bed spaces?
billion naira to Covid-19 pandemic
Nigeria’s LNG export revenue threatened
Alhaji should tell us how he arrives at 5 Billion as demand plunges –The Punch May 21
Even without pandemic, we don’t plan and
our history of spending windfall does not
make the current gloomy market any
calamitous

Was it a validated
outcome of a research Lagos Covid-19 cases to
carried out on feasibility reach 120000 by August
and potency of Ankara 2020. – Health
fabric in preventing covid- Commissioner
19 transmission?
Methodology? Where and How does he arrives at
When? that figure? Which model
use?
 Federal Republic of Nigeria
Money trickles in . . . .

AfDB European Union United Nations

. . .approved $288.5 loan to support Nigeria in tackling . . gives Nigeria €50 million (as their . . .mobilizes $182m to
COVID-19 pandemic in the area of surveillance and contribution) to fight coronavirus. support millions of Nigerians
emergencies response hit by covid19 pandemic.
Germany
The World Bank . . donates €26 million in solidarity and President Buhari
. . .approved $346m for two projects aimed cooperation with Nigeria to support . . requests to borrow N850bn
at strengthening resilience and livelihoods humanitarian assistance in the North east.
to fund 2020 budget approved
in the lake Chad region.
Donations by both houses.
Gen. Sani Abacha Loot Over N25bn in donations by individuals and corporate
The United States of America repatriated $311 million organizations to support the Federal Government’s effort to
looted by late military dictator, Sani Abacha contain the COVID-19 pandemic

. . . Do we need to borrow to fund budget ? No !

We can also learn from Algeria

While many similar oil-dependent “Accumulating debt harms national

countries across Africa have turned to sovereignty,” President Abdelmadjid
international lenders for relief funds Tebboune has said, despite facing financial
around $10 billion combined to tackle woes caused by the pandemic and a
the pandemic, Algeria decided against. collapse in global oil prices, just like Nigeria
Algeria government decided budget reduction by 50%, increase minimum wage
(from 18K to 20K dinars) and abolish income tax for certain earning group.
Nigeria: We can follows Algeria‘s example for the year. Heath and Agriculture
President Tebboune can remain. Constituency projects, Infrastructures, debt servicing etc can be
affected with understanding and in the interest of the masses.
14,000 people volunteered to be
infected with Coronavirus
More than 14,000 people in the U.S. and
There are no public plans for such a study in the
elsewhere are putting their names forward
U.S., but politicians and volunteers are pushing
in volunteering for what's called a "human
for one The Food and Drug Administration has
challenge trial," an ethically controversial
never allowed a human challenge trial for such a
way to test vaccines that would
novel disease without a cure, but it is not ruling
deliberately infect people with coronavirus
one out.
that has no cure.
Across the Atlantic, London-based hVIVO and Switzerland-based SGS are working to launch
challenge studies, and the WHO recently released a working document outlining criteria for an
ethically acceptable design
"Human challenge studies are a way to expedite the development of a vaccine to prevent
COVID-19," the (US’s) FDA wrote in a statement to NBC News. "Because these studies involve
exposing volunteers to the virus, the studies raise a variety of potential scientific, feasibility,
and ethical issues. The FDA will work with those who are interested in conducting human
challenge trials to help them evaluate these issues." The FDA said development of safe and
effective vaccines will need to be "carefully conceived and rapidly executed," and formal
determinations on human challenge trials will be made on a case-by-case basis.
Nations reopen with “a new normal” definitions

Schools began gradual reopening in South Africa. Here

students practice social distancing in Soweto

South Korean students began returning to school from May

20. Above: Jeonmin High School, Daejeon

El Recreo mall in Caracas Venezuela as the Rhodes Island: The start of legislative session at the House
country reopen (New normal) June 17 Chamber with plastic protective barriers. June 17
 L: Visitors watch a dolphin in transparent pool at SeaWorld park as it reopened with new safety measures in place,
Orlando, Fla, USA. R: Staff at Pallite work at their desks with protective company‘s cardboard social distancing
screens, at their HQ in Wellingborough, Britain. May 27.
USA
Nigeria Banks prepare branches for gradual reopening; with
stocking masks and setting up acrylic barriers to prevent
COVID-19: ECOWAS recommends gradual re-opening of regional
spreading of covid-19 novel virus.
borders
FG warn Vice-Chancellor against reopening of universities. May11
FG asks churches, mosques, and others to submit guidelines fr
UK, India, Honduras
Zoos and drive-in cinemas among sectors of economy
reopening. May22
reopening in UK.
FG may relax interstate ban on June 21
India reopens temples and malls, but without sprinkling of
Senate, stakeholders oppose resumption of flights
holy water
Muslim clerics support suspension of re-opening of worship
Honduras begins opening of economy
centres
Cleric backs Lagos over suspension of church reopening
 However, in the North, these are our kids of elementary ages
Katsina sends 435 Almajiri returnees
to their 23 LGS. April 23

Elementary schoolers in the Chinese

megacity of Handzhou returned to school
with a winged cardboard hat reminding them Nasarawa repatriates 788 almajiris
to maintain distance from each other. to home states. May 3
 May 5: Emmanuel Macron,
French President, wearing a
protective face mask is seeing
here speaks with Pierre Ronsard
elementary school children in
Poissy, outside Paris. Schools to
start gradual reopening from
May 11
 Texas, USA May 19 : Ponder high School graduates
march out of the garage area and onto the front stretch
to participate in their graduating ceremony at Texas
Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, Texas.

Texas Motor Speedway hosted 30 socially-distanced

high school graduation ceremonies. Students receive
their diplomas on the front stretch of the track with
family and friends in their cars parked on the infield USA May 20: Seniors at Spain High School sat
watching the ceremony on their track’s massive “Big on baseball field during socially distanced
Hoss” TV screen graduation ceremony in Hoover, Ala. Both the
seniors class members and spectators most of
them wore masks
 Despite
Coronavirus
...
1.
2.
Iran launched
USA launched
3. Turkey cinema event
4. USA Racism
 CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC: Iran and USA don’t loss
Engineering & Technology Focus, Source of their Power

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) surprised the world with a successful launch
of it first military satellite dubbed Nour (light) into the earth’s orbit . April 22
May 30, Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Fla.
Spectators watch from a bridge in Titusville, Fla., as
SpaceX Falcon 9 lifts off with NASA astronauts Doug
Hurley and Bob Behnken in the Dragon crew capsule
(Bottom right). The two astronauts on the SpaceX test
flight flew over Nigeria on its way to the International
Space Station.
May 30: Antalya, Turkey
People watch the Turkish film
“Among Family” in their cars
during open air cinema event
held for the novel COVID-19
measure

When is the Nigeria government

going to see the wisdom & beauty in
“collective goodness governance” ?
-OG
 The rest of the world
should hold the US
accountable for its
heinous crimes against
black people and
other minorities.-The Punch

It is not Floyd alone that cannot

breathe again forever, the
American society is suffocating
almost all African-Americans.
It (US) does not practise the
liberty it preaches and holds
other countries, especially in
Africa and Asia, to account for.
(US) society is just pretending to be
open, democratic and free. It is fascist!
All curled from The Punch Editorial (May 31)
In day light
Ahead of Trump’s walk to St John’s Episcopal (damaged by protester) across the WH, the area was
cleared of protesters forcefully with tear gas and rubber bullet

Bottom L: Trump walking back to WH escorted by secret service and accompanied by (Bottom R)
Attorney General William Barr (L) and Chairman, Joint Chiefs of staff Mark Milley in military uniform
 Pic from a live video: “It was a mistake” Milley
says of participating in Trump Photo Op

Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman, Joint Chiefs

of Staff, in his apology said his presence
“created a perception of the military involved
in domestic politics” June 11

“The president held a Bible. I just

wished he opened it once a while
instead of brandishing it” – Biden

“The presidency is a big job. Nobody

will get everything right. And I
won’t either. (But) I won’t fan the
flames of hate”. Trump is
“consumed with his blinding

President Trump holds a bible in front ego”

– The presumptive democratic presidential
of the St John’s church, after
nominee, Joe Biden
Clearing the path off the protesters
 Trafalgar Square in Central London
Central Auckland, New Zealand

Berlin (Peaceful protest)

Marchers lay down on Burnside Bridge for 9 minutes Peaceful rally in Cologne, Germany
symbolizing amount of time a Minneapolis police officer knelt
on George Floyd’s neck suffocating him to death. June 2
 Vatican City
Pope Francis says “. . .we cannot tolerate or turn blind eye to racism and
exclusion in any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every
human life” The Pope said he was praying “for repose of George Floyd
and all those who have lost their lives as a result of the sin of racism”
Islamic Republic of Iran
The supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: claimed “in America they kill
people in an open crime, and they do not offer apology while claiming
human rights” . He assailed US in the wake of George Floyd’s killing for
its allegedly duplicitous policies when it comes to upholding human
rights. He added: “Apparently, the African American man who was killed
there was not a human being”.

English winder Jadon Sancho reveals

Justice for George after scoring

Johannesburg
The South Africa Government called on US
security forces to use “maximum restraint”
to protesters over George Floyd killing

UK
In his first public comment, The British PM
told lawmakers that “what happened in the
United States was appalling, it was
“inexcusable” George Floyd’s family speaks at rally : Urged people to go vote than
turn to violence over his death, saying “Let’s do this another way”
 COVID-19 is a pandemic, a disease that has come to
humble everybody. It has come to also teach that some
people’s prophecies can be faulted. All these people
who make false prophecies and fake miracle workers or
healers; this coronavirus pandemic has come to prove
them to be liars and God has come to let us know that
He is greater than everybody.

COVID-19 has also sensitized Nigerians, to be

conscious of our health and know that health is
important because when it first started, evidence
showed that we were not ready at all. Imagine the
Most Rev Emmawnuel capital of Nigeria, Abuja, not having a good isolation
Chukwuma, the centre which made the late Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, to
archbishop of Enugu be taken to Lagos. Why should somebody at that level
Ecclesiastical Province, be taken to a private hospital and not a government
hospital? It means we have failed. Nigerian government
Church of Nigeria and
has failed to take healthcare delivery in the country
bishop of Enugu seriously.
Diocese
May 2020
“Nigeria will surely
survive (Covid-19
Pandemic) but
lesson must be
learnt on the need
for adequate
planning for
vibrant education,
health system and
huge poverty
reduction among
others in future.
God bless
Nigeria”.
-OG
Excerpts from Coronavirus Pandemic:
X-raying the Superpowers and the Rest
of us. (www.linkedin.com)
Acknowledgements
1. AOL
2. BBC
3. CNN
4. New York Times
5. Reuters
6. The Associated Press (AP)
7. The Punch
8. Matthieu Ricard
(Happiness. A guide to Developing Life’s Most Important Skill.
AtlanticBooks. London. 2007)