Not a few people are surprised that the lockdown occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic created anxieties and panic among members of the public which gave rise to unconventional ways to confront the problem. The surge in misinformation and disinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic seemed to align with this.
Abdulhamid Mohammed, Chairman Wuse Market Traders Association in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital city told WikkiTimes that the partial lockdown cost them millions of naira in damages, a pointer to the reason for public resentment and disaffection.
“Those with poultry and fish farming lost millions of naira during the lockdown and all efforts to convince the government to allow those with poultry and fish to come and take care of their belongings fell on deaf ears at that time,” he lamented.
Abdulhamid who spoke with much disaffection said the government got it wrong at that time. “Many people were angry in this market since the time of the lockdown because the virus had little effect at the time the lockdown was imposed, making people wonder why the government was so much interested in imposing lockdown and prolonged shut down of businesses when it was clear that the virus was not killing people in Nigeria.”
He said the government action at the time contributed to fueling the growing skepticism and resentment among the people, particularly traders at Wuse Market, Abuja.
Other Social Ailments in Nigeria Fueling Vaccine Hesitancy
Other social and economic malaise according to Abdulhamid, has contributed to fueling vaccine hesitancy among Nigerians.
He said many people continue to die in Nigeria as a result of “banditry, the Boko Haram insurgency, widespread kidnapping for ransom and rituals, the seemingly intractable farmers/herders crisis.
“Victims of banditry at one Local Government Area in Katsina state is more than the entire people who died of Covid-19 in the entire country. Why is the government more interested in Covid-19 than addressing the incessant insecurity that has consumed more lives and rendered many homeless?” he asked.
For Mohammed Ja’afar, a social commentator, and program director with Sarki-Goma, a local non-governmental advocacy group, Nigeria is a country with “many evils.” He argued that the covid-19 vaccine hesitancy in Nigeria is fueled by the government’s failure to address other systemic failures.
“Over the years, the government has failed to address the very many social malaise that have plagued all aspects of the social fabrics that make up any decent society. So many people are speaking with a lot of resentment and anger because the government of the day has failed Nigerians. According to him, “anything the government is putting forward would not get the desired public acceptance because of the growing resentment resulting from the many social inequities witnessed in the country.”
Ja’afar’s position was corroborated by Mohammed Lamido, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer at Planned Parenthood Federation of Nigeria, an NGO working to support Bauchi State Government on vaccine rollout.
“In our interaction with people at local communities regarding the pandemic and the vaccine, the excuse of poverty and other social ills are some of the reasons people use to refuse to take COVID-19 vaccine.
“NGOs such as ours are working with government and other stakeholders to reduce tendencies of vaccines hesitancy and refusal; but I can tell you that it’s a serious issue especially among local communities in Nigeria”, he added.
Living in denial of COVID-19 sustaining misinformation
A survey conducted by this medium in Kano and Abuja suggested that continued denial of the existence of the covid-19 pandemic has contributed to escalation of conspiracy theories about the virus. WikkiTimes’ findings reveal that most people denying the existence of the virus made references to misinformation messaging circulating on social media platforms.
“Through social media, there are people who were taken to isolation centres, they were only given Vitamin C to take and nothing more. They came back and narrated to us that the whole thing is a hoax,” said Ibrahim Mohammed, a textiles materials vendor in Abuja.
“Again look at it from simple logic, in the whole of this market, how many people can tell you that they have either contracted it or got their relatives contracting the virus, where are they and who are they?” asked Usman Bala a Kano based businessman.
“I totally agree with Femi Fani Kayode, Dino Melaye and all those that share their views that this virus and the vaccine have some clandestine motives behind it. Even from the side effect, that is very evident from those who were vaccinated shows that something is fundamentally wrong somewhere and people have every reason to be afraid,” Usman insisted.
But Usman’s “simple logic” isn’t simply justifiable, as findings by this medium suggest, there are no reported cases of side effects of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Nigeria. The National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) said only “pains and swelling at the point of injection are expected, as normal with any vaccination.”
Available scientific evidence, including this also suggest that the AstraZeneca vaccine administered in Nigeria has some common side effects that include tenderness, pain, warmth or itching when an injection is administered.
It has also been established that the side effects of the vaccine “usually go away within one or two days.”
The pace at which the vaccine was produced also remains a major point of debate reinforcing denial of real basis to the existence of covid-19. Several people interviewed by WikkiTimes in Kano and Abuja suspect that some secret agenda might be behind the official hype on covid-19 and the vaccine. “Within a space of few months, a vaccine for COVID-19 is produced but other diseases that have existed for years are still lingering unattended to and people are still dying as a result of such illness,” contended Ishaq Yakubu, a grocery shop owner at Wuse market in Abuja.
But several available scientific evidence, including a statement of WHO Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety said AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine have been administered on millions of people “continues to have a positive benefit-risk profile, with tremendous potential to prevent infections and reduce deaths across the world.”
The pace within which the virus is produced does not compromise safety protocols because, “the large clinical trials to assess vaccine efficacy and safety are happening at the same time as the large-scale manufacturing preparation.”
Are politicians weaponizing COVID-19 for political gains?
Despite several fact-checks that have repeatedly uncovered and debunked several falsehoods on Covid-19, many public figures have continued to spread misleading campaigns about the pandemic. Experts believe the action of many politicians are premeditated—mostly on ground of politics, “Because, many of them use that as a strategy to remain politically relevant”, said Nkem Ogbonna, Executive Director Better Life Restoration Initiative, a local NGO.
Using the search term “politicians use COVID-19 disinformation for political gains,” on Google search, several results pop-up including a study by the Brookings Institution which found that; “Elite actors often create and spread fabricated news for financial or political gain and rely on bot networks for initial promotion.”
In Brazil, this study found that; “disinformation about Covid-19 on WhatsApp was associated with political disinformation, mostly composed to support President Bolsonaro during the crisis, he faced at the beginning of the pandemic.”
Another study conducted in Ghana also found that; “The political system in Ghana is riddled with high patronage, resulting in extreme competition for political capital.” It argued that several misleading information about the pandemic was likened to “an ongoing competition for political advantage toward the forthcoming elections in December 2020.”
Similar instances could be traced in Nigeria where misleading tweets by politicians appeared to have echoed political sentiments.
Why politicians amplify fake news
“Every behaviour has a cause and is goal-directed. So people’s behaviour is usually motivated not aimless. Most of our actions can be viewed as an attempt to meet our motives,” Dr Mahmud Danasabe, a Psychologist at Federal University, Gashua, Yobe state said. He argued that most of the tweets of politicians in Nigeria are aimed at meeting their motives.
“In the case of Femi Fani Kayode for example, you can deduce the disinformation agenda from this example of his tweet: “First they gave us Buhari. Then Covid 19. Then 5G and next the vaccine. The worst part is that, like turkeys praying for Christmas &like goats praying for sallah, some Nigerians praise and thank them for it. Ignorance and lack of foresight is a terrible thing. Nigeria I sorry for you,” remarked Dr. Mahmud.
Mr. Nkem Ogbonna of Better Life Restoration Initiative also said “one can easily trace their motives through some the things they said on social media, for example, one could ask, why is Mr Kayode conflating President Buhari with COVID-19?
We use search terms such as “why politicians amplify fake news”, “the psychology behind the spread of fake news”, several results pop-up.
For instance, a study published in the international journal of communication found that “news discourse is predominantly the domain of conservatives. Frequent users employ fake news discourse to delegitimize primarily the media, but also political opponents.”
Several articles including this one has also pointed out how Brazilian President Jaiz Bolsonaro “used “fake news” to spread his message of, discrimination, and homophobia.”
The article indicates Bolsonaro’s main political rival, Fernando Haddad “who stood for the Workers’ Party after the original candidate, the former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, was banned because of a conviction for corruption and money laundering” was discredited through social media, mainly through WhatsApp platform.
Mr Ogbonna, politicians need to be held accountable. “Beyond fact-checking their tweets or getting the social media giants delete their tweets, we need internal legislation that will make adequate provisions such that the wrath of the law will fall on people spreading misinformation.
This publication was produced as part of IWPR’s Africa Resilience Network (ARN) programme, administered in partnership with the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR), the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), and Africa Uncensored. For more information on ARN, please visit the ARN site.
