Covid-19: Physical Disbursement of Cash: a Mockery of the Social Distancing Campaign -By Efe Agabi

Scientists across the globe are working tirelessly to grind out a vaccine, and a cure for the dreaded Covid-19. Before the envisaged breakthrough is attained. Social distancing and hibernation remains the safest remedy. To cushion the effect of the virus, palliatives are given to the citizenry in developed and developing countries, particularly the vulnerable.

The method that would be utilized to identify the vulnerable in Nigeria is left for the transient holders of power to establish, but a government that is poised to dole out palliatives to 11 million Nigerians having attained the unenviable status of the poverty headquarter of the world is laughable, insincere and a mockery of what palliatives should represent.

In 2019, President Buhari promised to raise 100 million Nigerians from Poverty. The realization that over 100 million Nigerians live below the poverty line is commendable. But how the government arrived at 11 million to benefit from Covid-19 palliatives is still unclear. Before Covid-19 crept into Nigeria, the genuineness of efforts to rescue Nigerians from excruciating poverty was in doubt, government poverty eradication programs are not inclusive and robust to ameliorate the plight of the poorest of the poor. The endless introduction of austerities to cushion the effects of borrowing, notably VAT increment, and proposed increment of electricity tariff did not suggests seriousness in the fight against poverty, and there was no strategy to exclude the poor from the needless charges from banks and telecommunication companies. With the geometric increase in the cases of Covid-19, government has adopted physical disbursement to dole out palliatives to the poor. Trust Nigerians, the impulsive response to the disbursement suggests a drawback to the success recorded in the public sensitization to entrench social distancing. “Who social distancing help?”

We are talking about 20k. In Edo State, residents thronged out to converge and register for the state government promised palliative, the venues for the registration were so congested that one could see the threat of a possible spread of the virus if there is a carrier of Covid-19 in the crowd . Overwhelmed by the crowd and imminent stampede, the authorities were forced to cancel the registration. In the FCT, the disbursement of 20k has been greatly condemned not because of the amount disbursed, the method of disbursement has further resurfaced the debate on the need to have a robust data base of the population, for the utilization of technology for subsequent identification of the vulnerable and systematic disbursement. Available data from the Nigerian Interbank Settlement Scheme indicate that over 38.8% of Nigerian have accounts linked to BVN. Regrettably, the poorest of society may not have BVN or account with the banks, but physical disbursement of this nature is obviously not the best approach. Having ordered a total lock down, one would expect government to develop an operational framework that would identify the vulnerable, and as well deliver palliatives with social distancing as a guiding principal. If the physical disbursement lingers, the efforts of government may become counterproductive