Covid-19: Now full scale business; Nigeria, Africa exploited, says Ayade

Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State.

Governor Ben Ayade of Cross Rivers has said that the global Coronavirus pandemic has become a full-scale business for some people and that the world is using it to exploit Africa and Nigeria in particular.

The governor stated this when he appeared on Channels TV on Thurday May 21.

 Speaking on why his state has not conducted random testing as observed in many other states in the country, the governor argued that the test currently being conducted to diagnose the viral disease in the country ''lacks reproducibility and reliability''.

 The governor who has a Ph.D in Environmental Microbiology, went on to state that the Coronavirus pandemic has turned into a full-scale business for some people.

 According to him, his Chinese friend residing in Switzerland recently told him that he has made so much money importing reagents out of the Philippines.

''Out there in the Western world, there is a businessman fanning all of this, making sure they sell reagents. Indeed, my friend out of Switzerland, a Chinese, says he has made so much money importing reagents out of Philipines and shipping to the world.

So it has turned into a full-scale business.

Why will I be testing somebody who has not come in contact with somebody who has caught the virus? I will only test you when I have reasons to, when I have seen symptom.

If NCDC continues to lower the criteria just to get more people tested, I begin to wonder because we have to exhaust the entire accounts of this country to be able to support the testing regime.

I think I cannot follow blindly. I must lead from the front because I am exposed, I am smart and I know what I need.

I can tell you this testing for Coronavirus has gone Ecopolitical. In the US for example, it is about the November elections and for some businessmen, it is about more reagents, more money. But for me, it is science, it is reality and becaue a wrong mentality will give you a wrong reality, I will hold the right mentality. Only contact tracing can help you identify those to be tested. I am a scientist please''

 Asked if we are being exploited in Nigeria via the pandemic, he responded

Of course, no doubt about that. No doubt about that at all.

You don't have to be a scientist to see the loopholes and business elements. Why can't Nigeria produce her test kits? Why can't we have our own vaccination plants to produce our vaccines? Nigerians are endowned. Very intelligent people by nature. ''

He continued:''Malaria and Coronavirus share so much in common that for us in  Malaria endemic world, we are naturally almost immuned to the Coronavirus. Even our own temperature here is such that when you sneeze, the virus escapes and it is escaping into hell fire because it can't stand an atmospheric temperature of 32?. Sometimes in Nigeria we go up to 42?. I just sympathize with this our follow the west syndrome and I think the time has come for us to change that completely. We are really being exploited as a continent. Nigerians are being exploited, Africans are being exploited. We must shut our doors. ''