Opinion
(Random Reflection on our Attitudes and behaviours towards the Covid-19 Pandemic)
By Ireke A. Kalu Onuma
FROM as far back as time has been, we’ve struggled with the questions of life and living. And this struggle having evolved from the basic hunter gatherers who were our ancestors, has today become much more than the search for food.
Over time we battled all sorts of things and comprehended few. The ages have brought emotions and feelings that if not understood are graded as myths and that boxes it into a corner for the next generation to deal with.
What has become myths today were realities faced by our forebears. And when they become lost or incomprehensible with time, we tag it.
Today the realities we face, will become tomorrow’s myth. We face the death gongs of the COVID-19 pandemic. Though it’s killing and infecting men and women around us at an alarming rate, we ignore it and become fastidious about it. We’ve treated it with levity, laxity and have spurn all sorts of horrendous theories about it.
We don’t believe it’s real. We don’t act as if it’s real. But folks, it’s real and it kills. Like we treated smallpox, chickenpox, leprosy, bird flu, and most recently AIDS and so many other diseases, even when the bodies were piling, we have resorted to acting same with this.
Nigeria’s and Nigerians peculiar superstitious attitude has added to this baloney of careless response and attitude. Whatever each of us wants to believe, please DO NOT BELIEVE THAT COVID-19 IS NOT REAL. A mere decade or so ago, alas even today, we had people still believing and spinning conspiracy theories about AIDS not been real. Like AIDS which they said was a white man’s creation and a hoax, we are at it with this Covid-19 stuff.
Whatever theory you choose to believe, note one thing, your belief won’t save you when and if you catch this out of your thick headedness. Yet you can avoid it. Prevention is better than cure. Carefulness, we say in Igboland, isn’t fear. He that rushes into a fight without due consideration dies a fools death, we also say in our clime.
The rate and frequency of infection is getting higher. The reported cases are not close to the unreported cases. I am sure we all are aware of the other mania and epidemic which has been our bane for long: THAT OF SELF DIAGNOSIS AND MEDICATION! There is an increased level of people knowing better than the doctors how best to cope or cure the disease. Please this is wrong and you are going to die for nothing! If this were the only flip side, one wouldn’t bother, but you would die, taking others with you.
Living with ignorance is no crime. But infecting others with it is. We owe it to ourselves, Families and Communities to act properly and in the best interest of our society, having seen, heard and observed how those very close to me have lost their lives because of this disease, it is pertinent on me to draw our attentions to this. We should shape up now or witness a further destruction of life around us.
Our spurned myths cant, help us. Facts and realities will. What are the facts, they are readily available everywhere and you can read it for yourself. What are the Realities, this sickness is real, its infecting everyone, including those we know and it is affecting our lives in more ways than one.
There is a lot we can do to stem the tide. I have no one bullet fit all solution but I think we must live daily in the consciousness and awareness that we ought to change our lifestyles to beat this thing.
Below is a quick suggestion on what each of us can do:
- Don’t go out if you do not have a need to.
- When going out if you must, mask up, maintain the distance and try moving without touching surfaces.
- Carry your hand sanitizers with you. Use it as often as you can.
- Increase your intake of basic vitamins. Basically , Vitamins C, D and Zinc should be top priority.
- Lifestyle change should include avoiding whats unhealthy to you and thus to others.
- If you have no Doctor, find a doctor relation, friend or otherwise to maintain a regular contact with.
- If you feel sick, do not guess, ask the doctor and share your symptoms with him/her.
- There are many natural sources of the basic vitamins and minerals we need, find them and eat them. Below I share a link that would help you with alternatives to buying vitamins. (https://www.nhsinform.scot/healthy-living/food-and-nutrition/eating-well/vitamins-and-minerals)
There are so many other things you can do, add them to the list above and do them.
Ignorance is no excuse or remedy. It will only leave you sick or dead.
Please lets live without the obnoxious myths but face the realities around us with the facts.
This is in memory of all those who have died of this pandemic and to the living that they may wake up from their lethargic sleep and live.
– Jan. 24, 2021 @ 5:50 GMT |
Tags: Ireke A. Kalu Onuma Life Living Myths and Reality
