Lockdown blues, politics, and paranoia

By Dayo Sobowale

I love a statement in Political Science that illustrates restraint   on observance of human rights with the caution that ‘your freedom ends where my nose begins.’ However, Social  distancing, a  potent  survival strategy against this raging pandemic,  has however,  made even that quite inadequate,  as you  must  move immensely far from my nose or you may end up in court for flouting lockdown and social  distance  rules , which are now the prevailing rule of law globally  to  contain the pandemic. Obviously since Man is a  political  and  social  animal  and politics is ubiquitous,  human  existence under clearly anti – social and political rules such as social  distancing and lockdowns   nowadays,  has   put humanity  and human values  at large  under stress not only socially and politically but culturally  too. I  intend today to acknowledge and identify such stress  and pressure on political systems globally as well as on the citizens  of the  nations of the world who  have been literally  food  for fodder for  a brutal and most unexpected pandemic, that has changed our mode of life and existence at what  I would call  the speed of light.

Actually,  I wonder  how  our legal  luminaries and highly respected Senior Advocates will  adapt  to  lockdown laws and  social  distancing in  defending those accused of violating such laws in high  and low places in recent times. Without preempting the  bar  on its  agility  and   ever  readiness to address the courts on any issue, I  can  imagine how really remarkable  legal practitioners  would look  with their normally  distinguishing black wigs and gowns probably  adorned with a black  mask  of the type sported by US Democratic presidential  candidate Joe  Biden quite  recently. Certainly that would be a spectacle to behold but unfortunately with a smaller audience in court due to social distance laws and rules. But   really this is a digression on procedure, albeit on lockdown laws.

Let me now go to the issue at hand which is the topic of today. I start on the premise that the law is made for man and not man for the law   in examining the issues I will raise. I go on to show how people in various settings have reacted to violation of lockdown rules in different climes and nations. It  is my contention that such or some  reactions have been due  to  the  dire  effects  of the lockdown on people in various  locations and depending on their  type of politics or political  culture. Those  who  have not violated the lockdown  laws  feel  those who have, should be taken to the guillotine as in the 1789 French Revolution, which  to me is high handed,  as not all  such  violations were deliberate and willingly  done. In addition, political bias have come into play in dealing with such lockdown violations.  It  is  also  my opinion that the lockdown  has taken its toll on the psyche of people  generally in most    systems  such  that  it has given them a feeling of paranoia or  mistrust  of any excuse given for any violation.  As such, they want the hammer to fall on any violation, regardless of the context or explanation. In addition, cultural backgrounds,  values  and environment have played a robust part in the way these violations have been treated and regulated across the world  especially  this week. I will explain with examples from Britain, Nigeria, the US, the Netherlands   and   Kenya.

The matter of the UK PM Political Adviser Dominic Cummins shows vividly all  aspects of the violations of the lockdown in this pandemic. Some have asked that he be sacked for travelling during the pandemic to treat himself, his wife and child during the pandemic. According to his attackers, he should resign for giving a bad example on lockdown violation. He has refused and his boss, the PM Boris Johnson,  has backed him that his action was legal  and reasonable as a father and family man. Clearly, there was a violation, but lives, including his own were at stake and the   lockdown rules   provided for such exigencies.  Was that not enough for some forbearance? Then politics came in and the opposition Labour leader condemned double standards and claimed Cummins was above the law. Was he?    Should he have waited, holed up in the lockdown till he perished with his family in the pandemic? What   morbid   joy or elation would that have given anyone including his political opponents in seeing the end of him in that way and manner? Those  who  feel  saddened  or persecuted by the lockdown should not allow their minds to be locked down against the  humanity  of  a desperate  man trying  to save  his life and that of his family , in a do or  die situation. Politics too should not estrange empathy to political opponents when they are down and out like Cummins was on his desperate travels and travails to save his wife, himself and child. Fortunately for him he can defend himself now, because in reality dead men don’t talk.

It is a pity this is happening in the same Britain we all appreciate for its NHS policy of treating people at the point of need, unlike other health systems like ours that demand payment first. But another example will show how human values in Britain have changed with the lockdowns. There was a story on the NHS which is well celebrated in the same UK for its excellent performance in the pandemic. A  chef and  his  children  made  a huge  and delicious lunch for   the NHS staff  but a local  government  official  thereafter wrote the chef  for violating the Industrial Relations law on using  children as employees in   serving  the  food. Of  course his boss in the   same  local  government apologized to the  chef and withdrew the  heartless letter, one  which  nothing but the rigours  and  stress of an over locked and   quarantined mind, could  have ignited in the first   instance .

Let  me now sweep  through  the other  issues as the UK  examples  have largely  served  my  purpose . First, with the US  where you  have a most  unlikely  person in President  Donald Trump  leading the way for US  governors to  break the lockdown and more importantly  for the churches to open . His  opponents in the Democratic Party  are using science to condemn him  but  that is politics .Trump  wants a full house for the November presidential  elections but  his opponents see any obstacles in that regard including especially  the pandemic as a hindrance against  his ambition  for them to exploit . So  US  politics in this Trump  era   and    under    the  lockdown   or  no  lockdown   issue, is one of spite , paranoia and frustration depending on which side of the political divide  you  are  in. Quite interesting I dare say.

In Nigeria, Denmark   and    Kenya, we look at how some leaders   reacted to lockdowns in terms of violation and otherwise. In Ekiti a father locked his son out and asked him to go to quarantine after returning from a cross border journey. The state governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, a security guru, commended the father and gave him a state job as a reward. Honestly  if I was  the son I will  never forgive the father because a father’s  duty is to provide sanctuary  to his family  under all circumstances,  including the pandemic. I trust the Ekitis to debate the issue further. As for the governor he is father of all especially in this pandemic, as   well as the state   lockdown enforcer. In  Kenya,  the President’s  son went  partying in violation of the lockdown, and the father, President  Uhuru  Kenyatta  said  he scolded  him and the matter ended there  without  any punishment   legally for lockdown violation.  Clearly one man’s   food is another   man’s   poison. In   the Netherlands ,  the PM  Mark   Rutte  did  not visit  the mother for six weeks  during the lockdown  till   the mother who was   over 90   passed away this week   although   not from the pandemic . What a beautiful lockdown enforcer this Dutch PM was! I  however  would   not  be in his  shoes and would  have  sought special  permission   to  see her in full  public view  to  pay   my  last  respects to  a mother   as expected  in most   cultures  globally.This   is because   as  man  or woman,   human   beings are  not  robots   and  have feelings and emotions. More   importantly, the law is made for   man and not otherwise. Please   take your pick. Once again, ‘From the fury of this raging pandemic, Good Lord Deliver Nigeria’ Amen.

 

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