By Ibrahim Danlami
Resource Centre for Human Rights & Civic Education (CHRICED) says, apathy to COVID-19 vaccination in Nigeria and especially in the northern part of the country is due to lack of trust among the populace towards their political leaders.
The Executive Director of the Resource Centre for Human Rights & Civic Education (CHRICED), Dr Ibrahim M. Zikrullahi, stated this on Thursday in Kano while speaking with Journalists.
He observed that apart from the apathy on COVID-19, many other things are responsible for the lack of trust.
“When leaders in the first place allegedly rigged themselves into office, they are bound to face crisis of legitimacy, credibility and integrity.
“This mistrust and distrust were accentuated by the coming of COVID-19 when many Nigerian politicians allegedly demonstrated mismanagement of resources set aside to address the pandemic,” he said.
He further pointed out that many of the politicians “did not lead by example, as they were going about their daily activities without observing the laid down protocols to prevent the pandemic.”
According to him, “they were moving around in large convoys, attending all sorts of gatherings and refusing to use personal protective gears. How do the citizens take the pandemics seriously when their leaders were demonstrating that it was not serious?” he asked.
The Executive Director, CHRICED, also alleged that there were cases of diversion of palliatives across the country which, according to him, had negative consequences making the mindset of the populace reconstructed.
Dr. Zikrullah,i also holds the view that “governance failure was a critical factor in the assessment of peoples’ response to COVID-19 pandemic and vaccination.”
“People are facing how to cater for their daily needs and secure their lives and livelihoods first before anything else. That may be the reason why in Kano, people will tell you vaccination is not their priority,” he said.
