KANO: WHY DYING IN TORRENTS?
This is not the best of time for me to venture into this space for a frank talk, because I don’t normally enjoy the luxury of scripting on social media in the holy month of Ramadan. As we all know, it is usually a period of spiritual preoccupations.
Thus, I wish I could just snub the ancient city of Kano and pretend as though nothing tragic had happened so far. The government of Kano, like that of Oyo State, is indeed a pragmatic example of political mediocrity in its finest form.
It’s now clear to all indigens of Kano why the progressive thoughts of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi could not survive the threat of conservatism in the ancient city. Next time you march to the poll, you shouldn’t hesitate to investigate the kind of person who seeks your votes.
The strange deaths in Kano are most frightening, and I saw it coming. I am not surprised therefore about the tragic situation. May Allah console the bereaved. Didn’t I mention it on this platform that Lagos is probably the only city that can handle this plague smartly.
Lagos, a fully awake restive city, always in a hurry to walk smartly ahead of the 21st century, a city where any stupid person could suddenly become the smartest guy on gaining power to rule the state. Kano and Oyo states should seek the uncommon wit of Lagos in managing the plague.
Why are they dying in torrents?
I am very sad with the gorry face of multiple deaths in Kano, not just because the city is my home – away from home, it’s the indigenous home of all my friends and confidants. Death is an occurrence – it doesn’t speak, yet it is pregnant with profound messages.
The death of Kyari was a message that covid19 is real, yet the people of Kano were not scrupulous enough. But certainly, Islam is not responsible for their complacency. The sluggish government should be held accountable for the tragedy.
The culture of Kano is not any different from that of Kaduna. But the custodians of power in the two states are different. If Nasir El Rufai is smart enough to lead like Lagos, the one in Oyo takes the semblance of his colleague in Kano.
In March, the Kano Airport was the last to close against covid19. This may have caused the virus to eat so deep into the body of the ancient city, so much that the victims could die so cheaply now, like flu infected birds. Of course, this tragedy is no fire, it is an inferno!
The countries and cities that are mostly infected are those that had unnecessarily delayed the lockdown of their Airstrips. The continued inflow of returnees and visitors has probably contaminated the home-based.
This is also one of the reasons for the spread of the virus in the countries that are known to be urbane and vigilant around the world, the US and Saudi Arabia, for example. I was among the last batch of pilgrims to visit the holy land before its lockdown and I was almost predicting this calamity during my stay.
While the virus was already spreading fast in the world, with countries in Asia taking precautions, I arrived in Madina expecting some para-medical harassment at King Abdul Azeez international Airport, but was only welcome with a royal smile.
As I arrived in Makkah for the Umrah, the Tawaf still continued in the grand Masjid as though nothing was happening in the world. We walked the Mataaf, as usual, skin to skin with pilgrims from other nations. Yes, we walked in worship, circumambulating the Ka’bah in fright.
Each time I did, throughout the five days of worship, the fear of being infected surged in my streams of consciousness. Allah knows how many pilgrims had returned to their countries with the deadly virus, how many Saudis had been infected.
However, the Saudi government became proactive immediately we left, closing the holy sanctuary, step by step. But when I returned home on February 14th through the Kano Airport, I still found my home country yet in life, as usual.
Of course, there was no any extra vigilance at the Airport in Kano and the Airport was not shut, until the 20th of March. Thus, the sudden upsurge in the number of victims of covid19 in Kano state, Abuja and Lagos state, rightnow, is no different from that of the kingdom probably because of the delay in closing their Airstrips.
But the case of Kano has become more embarrassing, with the inexplicable dimension of deaths, on account of its government’s failure. Ibadan probably enjoys the advantage of not hosting an international airport, otherwise…
Yet, we pray and hope that the brown roof city of Ibadan will not eventually succumb to the same tragedy. God forbid, as we are fond of saying. Let’s pray for Kano as they take precautions.
سُبْحـَانَكَ اللَّهُـمَّ وَبِحَمْدِكَ، أَشْهَـدُ أَنْ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ أَنْتَ، أَسْتَغْفِرُكَ وَأَتُوبُ إِلَـيْكَ
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