[dropcap]Y[/dropcap]esterday, a friend called me and told me that he was having difficulty breathing. He also said he’s been weak and has been having pains in the heart.
I immediately told him to race to Landmark Isolation Centre in Oniru, Victoria Island, Lagos. He went there straight away but was turned back. He was told that the isolation centre was only meant for those who have tested positive already. I encouraged him to wait till daybreak so he could go to Yaba, the main COVID-19 center in Lagos.
On reaching out to Yaba, he was told to describe his symptoms on record by way of SMS and send it. Subsequently, they told him that he could not be tested this week anymore as they were already fully booked for this week. As a result he would be scheduled to be tested next week. The question is, what happens to him between now and next week?
A similar situation was reported in Ajah early this week. They called NCDC in Lagos and they kept postponing the test. By the time NCDC officers got to Ajah the man had died and the family resisted the NCDC officers from carrying the corpse.
So, the reality is that Nigeria has no capacity for COVID-19 presently and the govt is not telling us the truth.
Please do all you can to stay safe, to be sure that you’re not infected at all, as it now takes prayer and connections to even be tested, how much more getting treated for the disease.
What the NCDC told the nation is that people are not coming up for tests and that there is capacity.
Please do your very best to stay safe and if you have any connection to help my friend get tested quickly, please do help me.
God bless you all.
Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa is a human rights lawyer who is a member of the National Executive Council of the Nigerian Bar Association; chairman of the Justice Sector Reform Programme Commission of the African Bar Association and patron of the Nigerian Bar Association, Okitipupa Branch.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
