Isolation Won’t Work For Poor Nigerians, And This Is Why

The other day a friend of mine (we will call her Mirabel) was narrating how this Hair Woman who goes about Mirabel’s estate, rendering home service of hair plaiting still went about her business. This Hair Woman had Visited Mirabel’s house in quest for her daily bread with her toddler tied to her back despite the pandemic. Let’s not forget that in this season of the COVID-19 pandemic, Children and Aged persons are the most vulnerable.

This Woman did not expose her Baby on purpose, she just did not have a choice.

Despite being illiterate Mirabel knew she had to have the conversation with the Hair Woman.

Miracle: Why do you still go-round with your baby touching strangers’ hairs, don’t you know you’re supposed to be isolating?

Hair Woman: Madam, na condition wey I find myself, I no get money and I need to to feed myself and my Baby. When I don make enough money I go get enough to buy things keep for the house to take isolate.

This is a representation of 82% of the citizens in this country. And then again I wonder how much she can make from a meager job like that, that would be enough for her and her Baby to isolate. And at what time during this pandemic would she have made that amount of money.

I marvel at the Educated Middle Class and wealthy sect of Nigerians who have been screaming “self-isolate”

In a country with a zero support system and no welfare service?

It’s impossible. People would literally die of hunger. 

With Nigeria having the highest number of poor people in the world, the masses have to go out there and source for their daily bread or else they will die of hunger. And, this is why movement cannot be restricted, people cannot self-isolate. 

People have to WORK in order to feed.

Let’s think of the:

Traffic Hawkers

Pepper Sellers

Daily Pay Earners

Petty Traders

What about the Homeless ones, how do you self isolate when you’re homeless?

Isolation is just impossible in Nigeria. The Masses will have to go about their businesses, the petty traders will have to sell, the traffic hawkers will need to hawk their wares, the Daily Earners have to collect their income in order to survive daily, and most of these persons serve the rich which makes it a cycle of spreading the virus.

It’s a sad truth that the virus will keep spreading because the majority of Nigerians are poor and cannot afford to isolate.