Columns
Adaptation is the Key Characteristic
of China’s Policy against COVID-19
Adaptation is the Key Characteristic
of China’s Policy against COVID-19
By CUI Jianchun
On the New Year’s eve, Chinese President XI Jinping, at his 2023 New Year Address, extended greetings to all nationals as well as friends and people in the world, while claiming that, since COVID-19 struck, China has prevailed over unprecedented difficulties and challenges. China has entered a new phase of COVID response, where tough challenges remain. Everyone is holding on with great fortitude, and the light of hope is right in front of us.
After three year’s fighting against the pandemic, the whole world is much more convinced that, virus itself is the common enemy of all human beings. Till now, the coronavirus is still lingering over the world, with far-reaching social, economic and political consequences in different countries, and also with its sub-variants, such as Omicron, prevalent in many countries including China.
From the very beginning of its response against the pandemic, China has always taken responsible policies on a science-based and targeted approach, by putting people and their lives above all else, and by adapting measures dynamically and proactively. It has been proved and widely recognized that China’s COVID response policies over the past three years have realized the goal of achieving the best results at the least cost.
In the past three years, China has provided the greatest extent possible of protection to the people. China has made the best effort to protect the life and health of its 1.4bn people, and poured all resources into treating every patient, no matter its own nationals or foreigners living there. China has effectively responded to five global COVID waves, and avoided widespread infections with the original strain and the Delta variant, which are relatively more pathogenic than the current spreading variants. Globally, China has had the lowest rates of infection and mortality. Despite the pandemic, average life expectancy in China rose from 77.93 years in 2020 to 78.2 years in 2021.
In the past three years, China has witnessed the stability of its economy and also its supply chain to the world. One of the key focuses of China COVID policy is to minimize the impact of the pandemic on economic and social development. With joint efforts of the whole country, China’s economy has managed to consolidate its resilience and maintain sound fundamentals, making it a reliable driving force of global economic growth.
The country’s GDP expanded at an average annual rate of 4.6 percent from the third quarter of 2019 to the third quarter of 2022, which is well above the world average, according to data released by the OECD. Besides, China has also led the world in terms of trade volume, goods production and energy production, and kept its inflation rate at a relatively low level. Chinese people’s basic livelihood has been guaranteed during the pandemic. In 2022, despite a global food crisis, China has secured a bumper harvest for the 19th year in a row.
In the past three years, China has witnessed the large-scale vaccination internally. China’s efficient response policies have bought precious time for researching and developing vaccines and medicine, and raising the vaccination rate of the whole population. As of last December, more than 3.46 bn COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered on the Chinese mainland, with over 90 percent of the population fully vaccinated.
However, due to most of the vaccination has been done a year ago, it is hard for a large part of the Chinese population to retain a high immunity level against various mutant strains. Recently, the second booster shot campaign has been pushing forward nationwide, with special attention on elderly people and people with serious underlying health conditions.
In the past three years, China has promoted the robust international solidarity. Since COVID-19 began, China has actively participated in international response. China shared the genome sequence of the virus at the earliest opportunity, making important contributions to the drug and vaccine research around the world. The competent authorities in China has kept regular communications with the WHO, carried out dialogues with partner countries to exchange technical experience, and shared information in a timely, open and transparent manner in accordance with the law, aiming at an early global victory over the pandemic. Meanwhile, to strengthen global defenses, China has provided anti-pandemic materials to 153 countries and 15 international organizations, sent medical expert groups to 34 countries, and offered over 2.2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to more than 120 countries and international organizations.
In the last quarter of 2022, China adapted and refined its response policies, in line with a changed landscape of viral contagion. This shift is science-based, timely and necessary. It fully took into account of the much less pathogenic and deadly status of the globally spreading Omicron variant, as well as of the progress that China’s treatment, testing and vaccination capacity steadily on the rise, and would concentrate its response from stemming infection to caring for health and preventing severe cases.
According to this adaptation, people infected with coronavirus will no longer be quarantined and their close contacts will no longer be traced. Moreover, China is one step closer to fully opening to the outside, as domestic and foreign airlines will operate scheduled passenger flights, with limits on flights no longer applicable including closed management, nucleic acid testing, and quarantine measures.
Countries adjusting the COVID policy would invariably go through a period of adaptation. China is no exception.
However, China’s current COVID situation on the whole remains predictable and under control, as many cities have gone through the peak. This adaptation by China is also important from a strategic and long-term perspective, for effectively coordinating COVID response with economic and social development. American, British, German and other foreign chambers of commerce in China commend this downgrade adaptation, noting this will clear the way for resumption of people-to-people exchange and business travel, and enhance foreign investors’ confidence in the Chinese market.
Comparing with the natural virus, what we should be much more vigilant on is the political virus. As many international health experts indicate that, the main variant now spreading in China is the same one prevalent in other countries, it is senseless to impose extra restrictions on travelers from China. Political manipulation of COVID response measures by few countries would only bring chaos to world’s solidarity. In this regard, we highly commend the Federal Government of Nigeria for its science-based and proportionate COVID response measures, which has featured from the very beginning of its response.
The light of hope on final victory over pandemic is right in front of us. Just as appealed by President Xi at his New Year Address, “let’s make an extra effort to pull through, as perseverance and solidarity mean victory”.
- H.E CUI Jianchun is the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria)
Adaptation is the Key Characteristic
of China’s Policy against COVID-19
Columns
University Courses: Marketable and Non-Marketable Courses—How True?
University Courses: Marketable and Non-Marketable Courses—How True?
By: Balami Lazarus
Let me make it clear hereinafter that I am not against any academic course or the role of guidance and counseling for good career choice, provided that our young men and women will be guided properly. Not long ago, I visited a friend who teaches at one of the universities. It was interesting to be with him, having spent years without seeing each other.
My friend and I took time out and had a long discussion on national issues concerning our country in an attempt to proffer verbal solutions that will only end and stop as mere talks, which most Nigerians are good at doing, including this writer.
In furtherance to our discussion, I was very particular about education and how to improve the sector in terms of standards, academic excellence, and skills. I also raised the issue of corruption in the system. In the process I immediately recalled what some parents and guardians are peddling around saying: “There are marketable and non-marketable courses in our universities.
“For me, I know that for hundreds of years, universities are known to be great centers of teaching, learning,learning and research, contributing to arts, science, and technology for the purpose of national development. My friend was quick to add that “the academic corruption is perpetrated by some lecturers and students, monetarily and sexually.”
Having discussed the corruption bug. I asked the university Don if there are any courses as marketable and non-marketable courses in our universities. This one question gave the Don a good laugh. He looked at me and said, “I have spent years as a teacher in the university academic department. I have never heard of any course(s) known as marketable and non-marketable academic disciplines or any faculty/department that run such courses.
As young secondary school students aspiring to go to the university to study courses of our choices where our interest lies and looking forward to becoming either political scientists, engineers, lawyers, historians, or doctors, and so on. In this regard, we had never heard or been told by our teachers or parents that there are marketable and non-marketable academic courses. Therefore, we should study the marketable courses.
The question I always asked myself was, where are these courses? What we have in our universities are courses leading to different human endeavors. Whatever one decided to call these courses, what is obtainable today is the need to have to add skills to your academic training; employers of labor are today skills-oriented for those who are hoping to be employed.
Balami, a Publisher/Columnist, 08036779290
University Courses: Marketable and Non-Marketable Courses—How True?
Columns
With Fury of a Tempest, Alau Dam Flood
With Fury of a Tempest, Alau Dam Flood
By: Balami Lazarus
Who wants to be a millionaire? a television quiz program anchored by one Frank Idoho, which I hardly missed. I recalled a question once asked: Where is Lake Alau? In the options, there was Borno state among other states. The young man on the hot seat gave a wrong answer. I believe because Lake Alau was then not popular, unlike its cousin, Lake Chad.
Not much is known about the Lake, Alau, and the dam known and called Lake Alau Dam put together. Let me first start with the lake as a natural geographical feature, a large body of water surrounded by land. However, and to the best of my findings, there is no available written document on the history of this lake in question. But it held that the Lake was there many years traceable to the period of the Kanem- Borno Empire. While the present Alau was a small settlement that emerged during the formative years of Shehu’s dynasty from 1846 to the present day. It later grew into a village with people of Kanuri extraction.
Alau is today part of the Konduga Local Government Area of Borno state, some few kilometers away from Maiduguri city center. For the purpose of providing portable drinking water and to improve agriculture through irrigation farming and fishing, a dam was constructed by the past administration of the state from 1984 to 1986. The project was tagged as Water for Borno. Thereby, Lake Alau Dam has become part of the people’s lives, for its importance cannot be quantified.
The recent Alau Dam flood that nearly swept away the city of Maiduguri came with a raging fury of a tempest in September 2024 I will liken to one of the works of William Shakespeare—”The Tempest.”TheTempest”. That of the play was simply and deliberately raised to humble palace traitor Antonio and his co-conspirators, who ousted Duke Prospero, whom they marooned on a deserted island, leaving him to his fate. But ours came with devastating destruction and killing with ravaging effect from head to tail, which has caused unestimated damage.
The flood was not because of the heavy rainfall experienced last season but from the overflow of the dam and subsequent breakoff of its decks. My last visit to Lake Alau Dam with some friends was years back. What was observed and saw were obsolete facilities that were outdated, old, and weakly decked. There was nothing to show that the dam is being cared for. But while growing up in Zaria as kids, we were so used to seeing Kubani and the University (ABU) dams being opened up to let out large quantities of water to avoid overflow and flooding. Has Alau Dam ever experienced that? Has it been dredged?
Therefore, the 13-man committee led by Mr. Liman Gana Mustapha, a professional town planner, may wish to consider these questions as an inroad to finding a lasting solution to the flood matter.
Balami, a Publisher/Columnist. 08036779290
With Fury of a Tempest, Alau Dam Flood
Columns
The Rise and Fall of Garkida, a Social Decline
The Rise and Fall of Garkida, a Social Decline
By: Balami Lazarus
In my recent visit to see my aged mother in Shaffa, a small rural town. In a chat with some of my peers, Garkida came up, and one of us immediately informed the group that the town is socially dredged. I made some findings, and you may wish to agree. I believed students of history my generation were once taught about the rise and fall of great empires, kingdoms, rulers, warriors, and other historical events during our secondary school days. In the cause of those lessons, our imaginations were always taken far to other lands.
We never thought that someday there would be a fall or decline of our own, which could be a town, village, or settlement, but never like the fall of the known historical empires/kingdoms of Oyo, Jukun, Fante/Ashante, Kanem-Borno, Songhai, etc. To rise is a difficult task in life or in the course of growth, be it individual, town, or city. But to fall is easy. Garkida has rose and fallen, or, to say, declined socially. Once a bubbling rural town in Buraland, being in Gombi Local Government Area of Adamawa State has nose-dived from the social ladder.
As a historian, I will not subscribe to the use of the term fall; it will defile my histo-journalistic sense of reasoning because Garkida is a proper noun and is there real. So it will rather go well with me and perhaps some readers of this essay to accept Declined as a better use of historical language for the purpose of this work. I am not a native of Garkida and have never lived there, but it was the home of my cousins and nieces long before now.
As a young man, I had it well with friends when the town was in her social chemistry and apogee. In spite of her decline, the arrears in our kitty, notwithstanding the flow of time, are the mutual friendship, an indelible mark in our social life. I remember clearly as a holiday-maker with my grandmother at Shaffa, Garkida was the in-thing in our youthful days because of the mass social activities that used to take place there.
There were social interactions with friends and relatives from different places, parties of all kinds—a social front burner. And to most of my peers, it was the center of today’s mobile social handle—Facebook, where you meet and make new friends. That was Garkida for us. As a rural town, it flourished with glamour, elegance, and pride, triggered by the social engineering of Who is Who? The creme de la creme of her sons and daughters who made nane in their vocations or professions that promoted and spread the name of Garkida as social lighthouse.
It was the abode of top military brass in the ranks of generals. Her businessmen once made the town tick as a cluster of has. It was the nerve of vogue and socialites in Buraland. There was declined in this capacity. Historically, Garkida came to the limelight and appeared on the colonial map of Nigeria in 1923, when the white Christian missionaries of CBN/EYN first settled there and made it their home on the 17th March of the aforementioned year. The beginning of her social mobility started in the 1970s, through the 1980s, to the dawn of the 1990s, her zenith.
I doff my hat for the united daughters of Garkida; credit goes to them; their exposures, taste, beauty, love, elegance, sophistication, unity of purpose, and social agrandisement made them wives of husbands of men from far and near who are of different walks of life. The women of Garkida were a central force, once the venus de milo of the town before its social decline. I cannot conclude this article without appreciating the fact that Garkida was the center of learning and vocational training and once the hold of good and efficient healthcare services in Buraland and its neighbors. Today, Garkida is no longer in the vantage position.
Balami, a Publisher/Columnist, 08036779290.
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