By Suleiman Umaru
When officials of the World Health organisation, W HO, advocated that people should maintain social distancing to curb the spread of the Whan town in Hebei Province of Ch ina emerged Cornonavirus disease which had spread to 203 countries and affected 1, 225,035 people including 66,502 confirmed deaths as aat Sunday, April 5, 2020, the initial fear was that the COVID 19 victims would be more in the north, particular, Katsina state because of the poor hygiene situation in the state.
Aware of the problem, Bello Masari, a former Speaker of House of Representatives and now the governor of the state may have known that that the only to curb the spread of the disease in the state was to carry the Emirs and the district Heads along in order to take the sensisation Campaign to the various Communities in the state. That appear to have performed the trick.
This is evident going by the sensisation Campaign that had been embarked upon since the outbreak of the disease in the country last February by Usman Kankara Bello, popular, UK.Bello, a retired Customs Comptroller ,with the traditional title of Kanwan Katsina and now the district Head of Ketare in Kankara Local government .
Bello, according to close sources was said to have briefed the village heads in his domain about the deadly disease , described as very dangerous by President Muhammadu Buhari and who in turn had taken the sensitisation Camapaign of the Chikwe Ihekweazu led Nigerian center of Disease Control, NCDC, rules and regulations of wash your hands frequently with soap under running water, avoid touching your face or high contact surfaces to the Ketare district Communities in order to prevent the spread of the disease in the area.
The Ketare district Head was said to have directed the formation of Sanitation Committees to be led by the village heads while the religious leaders, ward heads. Health and security personnel in the district would serve as members to ensure strict Compliance to the Sanitation order.
Perhaps, to ensure that the directive was not flouted by any person, the Kanwan Katsina, who is a no nonsense monarch in Kankara local government was said to have also given a matching order to the village heads who under his domain to furnish his office with the weekly report of the activities of their Committees, which he in turn will submit the office of the governor in Katsina. The state Capital in order for the governor to keep abreast with what is happening in the district in the fight against the spread of the disease ,
An organized Kankara Monarch had enjoined the village heads to be very watchful of indigenes the Communities coming back from the cities, particular, Lagos, Ogun state and Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, to avoid the penetration of victims to their various Communities and thus , facilitate the spread of the disease in the district.
He wassaid to have urged them to report any person showing symptoms of the disease to the nearest NCDC , officials , healthcare facility or relevant security personnel for necessary action. This may have forced the village heads to be alive to their duties as they have a dossier of the returnees from the cities or non natives to their respective villages at any point in time. This has made the job of the Ketare district head a lot easier in monitoring the Communities under his domain, which had suffered for much of last in the hads of bandits.
