NEWS ANALYSIS: Yahaya Bello’s Reckless Statement On COVID-19 And PTF’s Unwholesome Silence
Despite rising COVID-19 cases and deaths being recorded daily in Nigeria, Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, has continued to make bogus and unscientific claims about the killer virus.
Governor Bello sparked reactions on social media on Tuesday after a video where he was seen making bogus claims about COVID-19 vaccines went viral.
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The governor openly discouraged Nigerians from using the COVID-19 vaccines being procured by the Federal Government when they arrive, saying “They want to use the (COVID-19) vaccines to introduce the disease that will kill you and us. God forbids.”
Many rightly believe that the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 which is in charge of coordinating and overseeing the Federal Government’s efforts to contain the virus has failed to take responsibility to lead Nigeria out of the pandemic.
The PTF has been unwilling to rein in influential government figures who have made bogus claims that COVID-19 does not exist and that the vaccines produced to stop the spread of the virus is a fluke.
THE WHISLTER’s review of official data from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) showed that 107 people died from COVID-19 in the last 10 days (January 8 – January 18), while a total of 14,526 people contracted the virus during the same period.
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But Governor Bello, while addressing a crowd at a function, asked how scientists were able to quickly come up with vaccines for COVID-19 while failing to find vaccines for HIV, malaria, cancer, headache and for “several other diseases that are killing us.”
The governor asked Kogi residents to recall, “what happened in Kano during the Pfizer polio vaccines that crippled and killed our children. We have learned our lessons,” adding that “If they say they are taking the vaccines in the public, allow them to take their vaccines. Don’t say I said you should not take it but if you want to take it open your eyes before you take the vaccines.”
THE WHISTLER put several calls through to the Kogi State Commissioner for Information, Kingsley Fanwo, to find out if the state plans to reject vaccines for residents when they arrive, but he did not pick the calls. Fanwo also did not respond to a text message sent to his phone by our correspondent.
This website had reported how Governor Bello recently claimed that Kogi State had “demystified” COVID-19, therefore asking youth corps members posted to the state to feel free not to wear face masks.
“We have demystified the COVID 19 Pandemic and urge you all to feel free and have a breath of fresh air,” Bello, who was represented by his deputy, Edward Onojo, said at the passing out parade of the 2020 batch B, stream 1, orientation exercise of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) at the Asaya Camp in Kabba, Kogi State, in November.
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Two other prominent politicians – Governor Ben Ayade and former Senator Dino Melaye – have made similar unsubstantiated claims about the virus and the vaccines.
Melaye, who represented Kogi West senatorial district in the 8th Senate, has constantly campaigned on social media against inoculation of Nigerians with the vaccine.
“I’m calling on all Africans, particularly Nigerians, not to accept the use of any (COVID-19) vaccine for now. For 100 years we couldn’t find a vaccine for cancer. For over 40 years we are yet to find any vaccine for HIV/AIDS. For over another 100 years research has been going on finding a vaccine for diabetes and we are yet to find one. How then is it possible on earth that in one year you found a vaccine for COVID-19,” the former senator had said in a video posted on his verified twitter page.
Melaye, who didn’t back his claim with any proof, urged African leaders to, “not allow any African to be used as Guinea pigs by the developed nations for their satanic reasons.”
Even though one of the core mandates of the PTF is to create “sensitization and awareness campaigns for the general public on prevention measures and response activities,” the task force is seen to have failed in that regard.
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Also, the Federal Government has gone ahead to place orders for 10 million COVID-19 vaccines without tackling misinformation about the vaccines from the likes of Governor Bello and Senator Melaye.
The Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, told journalists in Abuja on Monday that the Federal Government had also approved N10 billion to support research for local production of vaccines.
Speaking to THE WHISTLER on Bello’s claim that the vaccines were meant to “kill” Nigerians, the national spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Kola Ologbondiyan, said the governor was merely seeking attention.
Ologbondiyan, an indigene of Kogi, said: “You must understand that Governor Yahaya Bello is an attention seeker. Somebody who seeks unnecessary attention. That is the reason why he alone can stand against the world. What he is saying cannot be proven in science and the world is in the direction of science and truth.
“So, he is not deserving of any reaction because he is just an attention seeker.”
Asked if the Federal Government should call the governor to order, he said: “Can the Federal Government call anybody to order? Is anybody in charge of the Federal Government. We’re drifting towards a failed state. We are running a federation that has no command structure.”
He further advised Kogi State residents to disregard Governor Bello’s remarks, saying: “Self-preservation is the first law in nature. So, they must preserve themselves. If they preserve themselves and it turns there is no covid-19, they have nothing to lose and if they preserve themselves and there is covid-19, then they must have protected themselves.”
It is time for the PTF to show leadership and caution political leaders who are bent on misinforming the populace. Otherwise the 10 million vaccines and N10 billion the Federal Government is planning to spend on COVID-19 vaccines would be a waste.
