From Government House, Jos, to the Secretariat of the Northern Governors’ Forum in Kaduna, it’s been uncommon baptism for Governor Simon Bako Lalong as the Covid-19 pandemic generates a grill and drill of challenges in the economics of governance and politics of regionalism. BY UGAR UKANDI ODEY, Jos

In a review of its first quarter performance for the 2020 fiscal year, the Plateau State Inland Revenue Service, last week celebrated that it recorded and posted a surplus – something akin to favourable balance of trade – as its generated revenue stood well above its budgetary projection for the period. An elated Management of the PSIRS rejoiced at a World Press Conference that in spite of the raging Covid-19 pandemic, it did not just meet its target, but scored above it by some billions, an indication, according to the Management, that the Service was disciplined, focused, committed, and hard working in the three-month fiscal process.

Economy analysts say this could be true and correct, especially because the period which spanned from January to March derived from the calm and stable ending of the last quarter of the previous appropriation process;  and, secondly, the macro distortion that came with the Corona Virus was at best still on the high sea as the index case in Lagos was reported only in  the close of February.

The beginning of the second quarter in April coincided with the period the Plateau State government unveiled its couterpoise and defensive initiatives against the rage and spread of the pandemic to the State. The inauguration was a decontamination and fumigation exercise of the whole State, an activity that marked the beginning of lock down of the entire State as part of combating the Covid-19 spread, and also set the tone of the controversies and misgivings that will  haunt the anti Covid-19 orchestra, beginning with the cost of decontamination of the entire State which has remained as obscure as it is uncertain even in critical public circles. The vagaries of the Covid-19 which came on strongly in the second quarter – with the State now in the eight week of lock down and inactivity, consuming more than it is producing – and this is bound to influence the performance curve of the PSIRS and others negatively when this quarter will come under review subsequently.

In a state-wide broadcast to announce and put in place state protocols to curb the spread of the pandemic on April 8 and commence the operations of the State Covid-19 Task Force, Governor Lalong acknowledged that the global health challenge was overwhelming, exasperating, and sapping financially. Some austerity measures and structural adjustments, he said, were ideal and inevitable in the  circumstances. Thus, he announced a whopping slash in the monthly salaries and allowances of political office holders and others, and proceeded to say the 2020 budget as originally projected and premised was  no longer realistic, to that extent, he said,  the budget is to be reviewed downwards to eliminate certain projects and programmes earlier captured for execution. With a chunk of the civil servants at home for the second month now, it is obvious that the budget process is already in straits and stats, even as the government of Simon Lalong is yet to announce the consequential budget size and its pilot emphasis.

Daily criticized for being ineffective and merely burdensome on the system,  the State Economic Advisory Council has not been outstanding and prolific or proactive as the state stands panting and groping for resourcefulness and initiatives to neutralize the pangs of the pandemic on the State’s environmental collective. Frustrated and desperate, Governor Lalong proceeded to constitute and inaugurate a post Covid-19 economic intllegentsia headed by Ezekiel Gomos who is yet to deliver as Chairman of the State Economic Advisory Council, and as Chairman of the Plateau Business and Investment Summit Committee inaugurated since September last year.

Yet, the most contentious and controverted aspect of the pandemic management is the administration of palliatives to residents of the State especially during the lock down period. Things have been proceeding improperly in relation to this vital component of the counter-offensive. Opposition and critics ridicule what is going on in the State in the name of distribution of palliatives as mostly ‘audio, and scarcely video’; or that it’s ‘all sound, no sight’. What has happened oftentimes is taking a miserable measure of two or three food items to a community of over two thousand households to share among themselves. A popular perception among Plateau residents is that the issue of giving out palliatives is merely so-called; and many believe corruption has bungled the administration of palliatives; and that  the goodwill of public-spirited individuals and organizations that have been donating to the covid-19 emergency relief pool is no less brought to naught by the sharp practices of those vested with the responsibility of disbursing the package.

The State government has not informed the people whether it has procured food items to distribute to them as palliatives, in spite of agitations and clamour for such by residents who hinge continuation of lock down on government’s ability to guarantee this. The State government has been opening a window of three days – including Sunday – to enable people “restock” and return to lock down. Hungry and broke, a resistance to continuous lock down is building up strongly at the background, with a potential anything may happen this week if the government is not sensitive enough to review and revise strategy and options. The state economy is basically subsistent and fragile. The government’s inability to provide palliatives is eloquent and impeccable evidence that it does not have the wherewithal to sustain continuous lock down of an economy that is panting and in need of some stimulation.

So far,  the gains of eight weeks of lock down have been contentious and on a continuum. The state went into the first and maiden lock down in April with zero case of covid-19 infection. In the course of the lock down, an index was recorded, and that commenced an upward trend that has been continuing indeterminately and brought the number of positive cases in Plateau State to 108 at press time. Although Lalong has explained that security sabotage and compromise have left the borders porous and made it possible for carriers of the virus to come into the State, only medics and a few others agree with the government that lock down has helped to check the spread of the virus in the state.

Popular opinion around the State,  especially those who view the lock down strategy as a lazy option which government is using to worsen official plundering and corruption and further deplete a coomatose economy, prefer a policy that makes the use of face masks and sanitizers in public places compulsory. This group argues further that lock down has proven incapable of stopping the spread of the lethal virus, and that like the HIV or Polio before it,  citizens have to learn how to live with the virus, manage it, until it is wiped out of the country.

As at press time there was a tendentious mix of emotions  among most residents of Plateau State. Tired and bored by an expensive and unproductive lock down, many are anxious to see the governor coming live with a broadcast that will release the people to their most cherished freedoms. Harrassed by hunger and humiliated by poverty, many are spoiling for action and agitating that should Lalong stay indifferent and callous to the impending catastrophe by insisting on continuing the lock down next week, a civil disobedience of incalculable proportions may become inevitable. Some concessions and reprieve from government could remedy its circumstance : it is presently suffering bad image and unfavorable perception, with such depleted credibility and low esteem that are uncommon even in fairy tales.

As the chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum, the covid-19 pandemic did not only come as a health challenge or an all-arresting World War, it hit Northern Nigeria with peculiar socio-ecomic shenanigans that have stoked the old order and tasked the ingenuity, inventiveness, and resolve of the present political leadership. Given the delicate and brazen cruelty and precision with which the Coronavirus spreads and strikes, the notorious Almajeri system in the North was not just readily and easily available and vulnerable, it was an immense and infinite locale for its foment, entrenchment, and consolidation. Realizing this nuisance and moving against it at the level of policy and officialdom was a tidal and revolutionary moment smacking of rebelling against the old order.

Thus, Lalong, as chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum spearheaded the effort of the political leadership in the region to outlaw the Almajeri as a way of life; and also ensured that such ‘liberated’ children are returned to their home states and parents. However, Lalong is yet to explain to the nation how the decision to ‘post’ some of such children to states in the south of Nigeria was reached. Nonetheless, banning the Almajeri culture in the North was not only tidal and epochal, but a rich and foremost gain of the tragedy that is Covid-19.

However, Governor Simon Lalong has got to return home and get down to the base and basics. For one, the people in the state are broke, hungry and angry, and the government needs to review its approach to the handling of anti-covid-19 activities, including improved transparency of the State Task Force on Covid-19 and the methodology of the palliatives committee. The government should show some sensitivity by pulling itself from slurs and abyss of petty jokes, and move towards refurbished image and credibility massage.