Our attention has been drawn to the most disheartening news of the inauguration of a Corona virus Isolation Center in Achi, Oji River Local Government, Enugu state, by Mr Everastius Obiyo in active collaboration with his co-sponsors in Enugu state Government. This is totally an ill-conceived and a wickedly designed policy aimed at exponential growth and spread of COVID-19 in the immediate surroundings communities in Achi, Inyi, Oji-river Urban, Awla, Akpugoeze, Ugwuoba, Mmaku, Ugbo etc. We cannot take that rubbish!!!
First the choice of the centre is totally both irrational and insensitive. This proposed isolation Centre is a training school. Thus, it does not have any already installed medical equipment. It has no Doctors, Nurses or other sensitive health care accommodation. It does not have any standard hospital around it. So, under emergency how does expert Medical team get there quickly? And if there are confirmed cases how do you transfer them to Enugu quickly as it is the nearest place you can get standard hospitals. Yet driving from Achi to Enugu is an awful experience taking hours because of the bad roads abandoned for years.
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Secondly Isolation centers are located near well equipped hospitals to make it easy for medical experts to immediately attend to them. In Abuja for instance, the Isolation Center is just by the Gwagwalada Teaching Hospital. All over the world, Governments in fighting COVID-19 immediately erect Isolation structures inside or close to existing hospitals. Where for any reason the isolation center could not be located around a well-established existing hospital, then a virgin ground, not surrounded by illiterate rural community settlements is chosen and Government immediately bank roll the very fast construction of the isolation center, including the accommodation for the medical teams and well equiped laboratories etc. Such constructions are done with prefabricated building materials and can be completed within a week as recently done by China Government.
Thirdly, the proposed Isolation Center at Achi is very closely surrounded by rural agricultural communities of Akwu Achi, Adu Achi, Mbaogu Achi, Amaetiti, Ahani, Ehuhe , Nkpokolo Achi etc. These communities have never been sensitized on how to handle this world dreaded virus. Also, directly opposite the proposed centre is the Anglican Grammar School for young girls and boys. Additionally, within three minutes walking distances are the following markets: Eke-ajala market, Orie Agu, Nkwo Ezi markets, Adu Central school market, Obodoukwu Akwu market and Amaetiti market. These markets surround the different sides of the proposed Isolation Center. Further its location is such that anybody entering or leaving Achi must pass through it.
Our worry is what could have informed the decision of the Enugu State Government to select this training school – with very dwarf fence which makes it easy for the isolated people to scale through and disappear into the nearby villages – as Enugu state center for isolation of people suspected to have contacted this dreaded COVID-19 virus, instead of urgently constructing structures and equipping them within or very close to well established hospitals in Enugu state. Is it simply because the Gburugburu Government is bereft of ideas and lacks foresight to understand the implications of citing Isolation Centers at the heart of rural settlements? If the Governor and his team can not handle basic analysis in locating Isolation Centers as the current emergency demands, what then is their business in governance?
The only reason presented is that the center has 150 bed spaces. What an unintelligent reasoning! If this reasoning is sound and bed space is the only criteria for citing Isolation Centers, then all universities in the country should, in their naive thinking, be closed and converted to Isolation Centers across the country as all of them have more than 150 bed spaces and are equally school training centers.
We cannot understand the decision of the Governor in positioning this death trap at the center of our rural communities except from the prism of a hidden hatred and continuous marginalization of our people. The Governor’s second tenure is speeding to its end yet there is nothing serious to show government presence in Achi. Neither any new road has been constructed nor old ones renovated in Achi, no hospitals cited nor renovated or equipped, no schools renovated and Achi people’s several representations to the Governor to upgrade any of her schools to a degree awarding institution have met deaf ears. Equally, no factories were ever cited and thus if not for paying taxes by these neglected people and the actions of government coercive agents, the people would not have felt the presence of Enugu state government in Achi yet the government has the audacity to contemplate locating this Corona virus death trap at this particular location in Achi without any attempt at consulting the people’s leadership and first sensitizing the rural people of how to handle it’s possible health fallout. This is arrogance and abuse of power taking too high!! All the State Government needed to do, if she has good intentions, is to ask Achi Traditional leadership and Achi town union executive to allocate her a piece of land in an isolated place for this mission. The Government would then construct whatever it wishes with prefabricated building materials and finish in less than two weeks as is done in other climes.
But instead of doing this the government resorted to getting rented people with heavy financial inducements to take the odd jobs of convincing their people to accept this poisoned chalice as good service with the hope of getting further Governor’s ears for future appointments. These people with smear morality are now arguing from different sides of their tongues in vain hope of derailing their own gullible people to accept this death trap not as a Greek gift but as gold. Yet none of them can assure us that the means of transmission of this virus has a rocket science conclusion and consensus by virologists, bacteriologists and other relevant experts.
Recently Obasanjo donated a large mansion in an estate as Isolation Center. Immediately the estate residents led by well renowned Doctors, lawyers, and many well informed and accomplished high profile members including the highly respected and very Holy former Primate of the Anglican Communion rejected it and petitioned their Governor that they shall not accept any property in their estate being used as Covid-19 Isolation Center and that Obasanjo should use his good intentions to donate part of his very large Otta farm where he lives as Isolation Center and the Governor obliged them. These people are no uninformed fools who do not want to attract good things to their estate. They were intelligently more interested in their current health status. Again Onika stadium was chosen because it has very high concrete fence, perfectly secured and leaves no room for any escape. Additionally it has two well equipped Teaching hospitals within its vicinity. Our highly respected brother, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, former Dsp attracted this edifice to Achi people as Skill Acquisition Centre. Achi people still prefer it as skill development centre certainly more than a virus Isolation Center or even its later purpose of Civil Defense Training School. For that serves our local population better without any health risk. Government should equip it for this skill acquisition purpose, post staff and ensure its immediate take off and our people will hail her.
The executive of Oji-River Indigenous Peoples Association Worldwide of which I am the National President has met and we are fully resolved to mobilize the entire youths of Achi and its environs to confront anybody who will come to convert this training school to a COVID-19 Isolation Center. We shall match any force with our bare hands but with resolve that will overwhelm the sponsors. And while sending your executors, give them enough blood baths to bring home to you our precious blood .
It will be better that the world watch when we are being slaughtered by you and your armed agents than your achieving the slaughtering of our illiterate peasant people secretly under the cover of COVID-19. I will personally lead our people to oppose your force.
We also state categorically that should there be any exponential spread of this COVID-19 in any rural village or town in Oji-River Local Government Area, the Enugu State Government, her Governor, His Excellency Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi and his rented defenders shall squarely be held responsible for their incompetence in handling the very sensitive spread of this dangerous virus as they are using weak gloves to read and analysis its implications.
