Bitter lesson in nationalism …why the west is right with the red-list ban

By Uche Chris

Our crop of political elites are predictable and their current reactions to the red list ban on Nigeria and other African counties by the western countries on the discovery of Omicron virus by South Africa is evident proof that they need a lesson on the concept and application of nationalism. Nothing in recent time has united them in opposition to the ban, especially by the U.K., than this across party lines and economic interests.

The nagging question is, why are they so incensed and upset by the actions of these countries who are only dealing with their own existential issues threatening the lives of their citizens? The orchestrated outrage and righteous indignation expressed by our political elites over the red list is unnecessary and unwarranted. In their shoes, Nigeria may do the same; that our leaders see this action as unusual points to their own lack of responsiveness to the interest of Nigerians.

For countries that have lost hundreds of thousands of their citizens, such actions taken against African countries are understandable and morally justified. As leaders of their countries, their first and primary responsibility is to their people who elected them to protect their interest. Not doing so does not make sense and would be totally irresponsible. Elections are determined by internal interest not international morality.

Africa has been the safest continent in terms of Covid mortality. Contrary to earlier opinion that Africans would be dropping dead on the streets, the continent emerged the least affected. Even South Africa which suffered the worst case in the continent looked like a child’s play compared to Europe, Asia and America, where thousands were dying daily. So they had to act to protect their own people since they are the most prone to die from it.

Again, the west is justified in imposing the travel ban on us because we have shown a lack of seriousness and commitment in fighting the pandemic. Nigeria, in particular, has proved quite irresponsible and lax in dealing with the virus. Vaccine resistance is definitely strong and respected church leaders and renowned medical professionals are on record campaigning against taking the jab, such that after nearly a year of making the vaccines available the country has only vaccinated four percent of its 200 million population, with one million doses expiring.

The truth is Africans, and especially Nigerians, do not place sufficient premium on the importance of life; so we conduct our business and live our lives in superstitious indifference to the consequences of our actions to ourselves and others. Our major challenge as a people is undeserved conceit deriving from the political hubris that the world owes us a free lunch and should accept us on our own terms.

Well, this may be possible for some countries, such as China, Russia, U.S. etc, but not when a country cannot organize itself and depend on others for its survival. The Dutch disease or Resource curse has so perverted our personality that we now lack a proper and realistic estimation of ourselves. We think that because of our size and oil resources and endowments, then we can always get our way.

Ordinarily, the travel ban should not be of any consequence to us except the economic burden. However, it is not for the social and economic impact on the country that our elites are up in arms, but for their personal and selfish inconvenience. The interest of Nigeria as a collective is minimal in their considerations.

Christmas is a holiday period for most of our privileged class, who would be denied the opportunity of traveling abroad. It is a time most people go home to meet with loved ones and interface with their political base. But faced with insecurity and economic crisis, their best bet would be an escape to countries where things work and where their treasures are stored. Their protest is the result of being denied access to these more serene places.

To an average Nigerian, what does the travel ban mean? Practically little, if anything at all. To them the argument by the elites of political discrimination and historical relationship is meaningless. Today, the greatest challenge in Nigeria is economic and social survival and travel ban has nothing to do it; the problem was there even when there was no ban.

The bitter lesson in all this is that every country works for its own people, and those who put their faith in other countries would come to the present parch when the chips are down. Our political leaders must pay attention to Nigeria and Nigerians and reduce our dependence on others. Unless we take ourselves seriously, it would be naïve and mistaken to expect others to take us serious.

Government should do more to enforce mandate; the present situation where even wearing of mask is completely ignored is unacceptable and intolerable.