According to a study about the logistics of the Roman Army at War between 264 BC – AD 235;

“Food and drink made up the vast bulk of the supplies needed by a Roman army, since in comparison to modern armies their requirement for large amounts of ammunition was minimal. In addition to feeding its soldiers, the army had also to provide fodder for its mounts and baggage animals.”

From this study, we can draw a very distinct lesson – food can help in winning any war.

Nigeria and other countries are currently fighting a pandemic warfare and here, the army isn’t made up of just the police, soldiers, and other law enforcement groups. The vast majority of the army consists of the general populace. Every man, woman, and child is involved in this fight.

And the secret weapon we all have globally in ensuring we will win this way is simple – STAYING AT HOME. But just like every weapon, without ammunition, our’s won’t fire. The one ammunition we need as a nation to ensure our weapon fires non-stop is for everyone to have access to food during the stay at home period.

And the federal government has the capacity to provide this ammunition and ensure we win this war.

Late in 2019, it granted deposit money banks the approval to debit bank accounts of loan defaulters across all the banks in Nigeria. This might just be the key the federal government needs to disburse up to N50,000 micro interest-free loans to 1 million qualified Nigerians for the purpose of sustenance during this Covid-19 battle.

Lots of entrepreneurs and businesses have been grossly affected by the Covid-19 warfare across the country including job loss. Here in Delta State, businesses like event centers, event planning, private schools, tutorial centers, etc have been greatly affected.

This is also the same situation in other states.

And when there is a shortage of income there will be a rise in hunger. Even if you keep the food supply open, without money to purchase this food, there will be chaos.

The Nigerian government with the help of data can actually carry out an assessment of individual credit history, monthly/yearly turnover (personal or business accounts) and decide who qualifies for an interest-free loan of N50,000.

This said sum will help provide basic needs (food) and medication for families relying on their small scale business. Based on the CBN approval on loan deduction, the whole process – assessment, disbursement, and loan repayment can be done swiftly via banks with good online banking infrastructure without actually gathering any forms of a crowd.

• The United States of America has approved a Stimulus package of $2 trillion US Dollars.
• Singapore has set aside $33.17 billion US Dollars to support businesses and households
• Italy is spending a whopping $82 billion dollars Stimulus package

This is not the time to hoard funds and this is not the time to make a profit from interest rates. Millions of Nigerians out there live from hand-to-mouth and cannot even afford hand sanitizers. The stay at home order will remain a ruse to them unless the government acts.

If there is any time the citizens of Nigeria should feel the impact of the government, it is now. A soft interest-free loan of N50,000 given to 1 million Nigerians (N50 billion naira) will greatly enforce the stay at home order and contribute to winning this war.

After the crises, the loan can be deducted from everyone’s account thanks to the new CBN rule. In the end, it will be a win-win.

Last week, Italy moved past China in the number of recorded coronavirus cases. At the current 7,503 deaths, the Mediterranean country has over 3, 719 fatalities more than China (3,281) even though it has a population of 60 million, about half the size of Wuhan, the Chinese city where the virus broke off from.

The number leaped with alarming speed in March, with Italians being responsible for the transmission of the pandemic to some other countries. Africa appeared safe in the beginning until recently when the number of infected persons in the continent started rising.

In Europe, Italy and Spain are the most infected countries with rising rates surmounting Chinese records. The speed of the spread in Europe has baffled scientists and health workers; some have attributed it to governments’ lax attitude in initiating a lockdown early enough in European countries. But there is more to it that’s just coming to light.

Scientists believe that the reason could be traced back to February when Atlanta hosted Valencia for a Champions League match. Thousands of fans gathered in the city of Bergamo from across Europe but especially Italy and Spain to view the match. Atlanta won Valencia 4-1 and both Italy and shared maximum impact of coronavirus as it spread through fans to the respective countries.

Both Italy and Spain have more than 80, 000 cases of infection with death toll surpassing 11,000. Bergamo is the most infected city in Europe with over 5,000 cases and 1,000 deaths. The city was reportedly conducting burials every 30 minutes, and army trucks are being used to convey dead bodies to the cemeteries.

Immunologist professor Francesco Le Foche said the surge must have been triggered by football activity as the outbreak was gaining ground in Europe.

“It’s probably that there were several major triggers and catalysts for the diffusion of the virus. The Atlanta-Valencia game could very well have been one of them. It was the apex of collective euphoria in a unique football season for this club,” said Foche.

Football bodies in Europe took a long time contemplating whether to suspend matches, and with the games holding thousands of fans at a time, the room for escalation widened. Given the period of the Atlanta-Valencia match, the time is right for the virus to unleash its venom.

“A month has passed since that match, so the timing is pertinent. The aggregation of thousands of people, centimeters from each other, engaging in manifestations of euphoria like hugging, shouting, all of that could’ve favored viral reciprocation.

“I have to imagine many didn’t want to miss that game if they had tickets, even if they felt a slight fever. With hindsight, it was madness to play with a crowd present, but at the time things weren’t clear enough. It’d be unthinkable now,” Foche added.

In February, coronavirus was still considered by many as a disease peculiar to the Chinese people and will be prevented before it gets to some parts of the world, Europe included. It unfortunately happened to be a misconception of COVID-19 that Italy and Spain are paying dearly for.

The Mayor of Bergamo Giorgio Gori said in an interview with Marca that the Atlanta-Valencia game “was a biological bomb” that its detonation took Europe by storm.

“At that time we did not know what was happening. The first patient in Italy was on 23 February. If the virus was already circulating, the 40,000 fans who went to the San Siro Stadium were infected. No one knew that the virus was already circulating among us. Many watched the game in groups and there were many contacts that night. The virus passed from one another,” Gori said.

On March 16, Valencia announced that 35% of the squad that traveled to Italy tested positive. The club returned to Spain with each one, from the squad to fans, having a touch of coronavirus.

The whole of Europe is at the mercy of the pandemic as every nation in the continent is battling to curtail the increasing number of cases and deaths by minute. Football has been fingered as the major cause of the escalation following the government’s insouciant attitude.

The UK is another place taking a major hit right now, and the escalation is also attributed to football activities. It was until coaches and players started testing positive for coronavirus that the Football Association saw the need to suspend matches. It is believed that the spread has been aided by a crowd of spectators who recklessly mingled when they should be distancing.

Efforts by the states and Federal Governments to contain the scourge of coronavirus in Nigeria have been coming in proportionate measures, with each government exerting prowess to protect its state. The Federal Government of Nigeria leads the charge from Abuja, while governors appear proactive in rolling out measures to curb the spread according to their states’ peculiarities.

On Thursday, the presidency announced that more measures are being considered in efforts to quell the spread from infected states to other states with no confirmed cases yet. Part of the decisions the Federal Government is considering include: stopping inter-state/inter-town travels, except for essential services.

Closing all motor parks and inter-state rail stations; using firefighting and other adaptable vehicles and personnel to fumigate cities and towns, and recalling retired health professionals to join the fight.

The Minister of Health Dr. Osagie Ehanire said the measures have become really necessary this time because there are so many suspected cases to trace.

“We have 4,370 people of interest whom we are tracing. We urge those who have had contact with suspected cases to immediately report to the authorities. We urge Nigerians to support the authorities in this regard.

“Nigeria is on the verge of reaching the level of community spread. We must stop this immediately or we will record exponential cases in the days ahead. There is no better way to say this,” the Enahire said.

Before the Ministry made this known, some states like Rivers, Kano and Kaduna had made the decision to ban inter-state transportation, closing entries to and fro the states. On Wednesday, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State said his government has initiated inter-state transportation restriction as a measure of protecting its citizens from the infection. According to him, the decision became necessary following a foiled attempt by an infected person to sneak into the state.

“Based on this alarming information, the State Security Council met Yesterday (Tuesday) and reviewed measures already put in place and decided that there was urgent need to adopt stringent measures to protect those living and doing business in the state from the virus.

“With effect from 6pm on Thursday, March 26, 2020, the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa will not be open to air traffic… all land and sea borders will be closed. Vehicular movements in and out of the state have been banned. In essence, no vehicle will leave Rivers State for any other state and no vehicle will be allowed to enter the state,” Wike said.

In the same vein, Kano and Kaduna states have restricted air and land transportation to the states, as Kaduna has started a dusk-till-dawn curfew with plans to fumigate all the market places in the state.

However, Lagos seems to be doing the most as it is the most infected state in Nigeria. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has been applauded for his pragmatism in handling the challenge.

The Lagos State House of Assembly in a swift response to the escalation of the pandemic has passed a bill to curb the spread and oversee other matters related to it. The bill which contains 25 sections is entitled: A Bill for a Law to Combat and Stop the Spread of Coronavirus Pandemic in Lagos State and for connected purposes.

Lagos is the first state in Nigeria to pass a bill respecting coronavirus. With 14 new cases recorded, Lagos has 12, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in Nigeria to 65, 44 of them in Lagos. The state needs more help than any other in Nigeria.

Sanwo-Olu has outlined more measures to combat the virus including fumigation of Lagos streets and the closure of markets which took effect on Thursday.

“To ensure we keep our environment safe and curtail the contagion of COVID-19, we are deploying disinfectant equipment to fumigate the entire state. These fumigation machines will be deployed to every part of the metropolis for sterilization of our public spaces and surfaces,” Sanwo-Olu said on Thursday.

However, the population density of the state has called for more drastic measures and funds to help the state’s Ministry of Health to implement some of the outlined measures, which includes expanding the capacity of hospitals and health centers to conduct tests and providing more isolation centers.

The federal government on Thursday, responded to the call by approving the release of N10 billion to the Lagos State government, and N5 billion to the Nigerian Center for Disease Control (NCDC).

With the measures taken so far, the Lagos State government appears to be on top of its game, and it is setting the pace for other states. Nigeria has recorded only one death, and the Lagos State Ministry of Health announced that six more infected people have tested negative and will be allowed to go home soon.

However, the clamor for a total lockdown of the state has been going on and the State Government has responded by issuing an opinion survey to Lagos residents. It is hoped that the survey will help the state government to make the right call on movement in the state, and provide for the vulnerable in case the lockdown takes effect.