In a pandemic, nobody is safe until everybody is safe – Elhadj As Sy, Kofi Annan Foundation

The Chairman of the Kofi Annan Foundation (KAF), Elhadj As Sy, has urged countries to resist the urge to promote nationalism in the fight against the Coronavirus.

Speaking during a webinar organised by KAF and the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation on Friday, June 12, 2020, the former Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross said nationalism will not be effective in fighting any pandemic.

He explained that the pandemic has seen countries respond by becoming more nationalistic, warning that in a pandemic, nobody is safe until every body is safe.

“What we have seen is that supply chains were broken, borders were closed, people were focusing within their national interests, forgetting at the same time that this is a pandemic and in a pandemic, none of us is safe until we all are. We are as strong as our weakest link.

“A shock of this magnitude will go well beyond the capacity of any single country alone particularly developing countries.

“In the situation of a pandemic we need global goods. And those global goods should be accessible to everybody.

Speaking on a panel that included former presidents, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia and Goodluck Ebele Jonathan of Nigeria, Elhadj added that “Unless leadership will exercise its right to shape the global agenda, we will get into some kind of nationalism in terms of masks, PPEs, vaccines that are not yet available but some pilot deals have been made so that those who can afford will be served first and those who are not that rich will be served last.

“That will not be effective in fighting off any pandemic.” he said.

Elhadj also expressed concern about the threats to existing democratic principles such as respect for the rights of citizens, noting that where drastic measures must be taken, they must be done in proportionality to the socioeconomic conditions of the people.

“What we communicate as a public health emergency, we must always remind ourselves that it does not equate automatically to a state of emergency. It will communicate a sense of urgency, a sense of speed, of early action and response but the speed should be balanced with a certain level of accountability so that it does not undermine either the principles of freedom for people, and the exercise of citizenship, and the legal framework within which one has been operating and the respect of the different milestones in those legal frameworks under the democratic system that have to be respected.

Across the world as the pandemic rages on, there have been reports of severe human rights abuse most notably the killing of an African-American George Floyd by a police officer.

Floyd’s death although not related to the pandemic, sparked massive outrage across the world with a searchlight beamed on violence by security agents.

In Nigeria, ActionAid, an international non-governmental organization working against poverty and injustice, said that as at April 14, 2020, about 18 persons had been killed by “overzealous security agents in enforcing the lockdown”.

“Regrettably, the enforcement measure has been taken by some unpatriotic staff and officers within the Nigeria security agencies to perpetuate severe human rights abuses on some Nigerians. These abuses include physical assault, torture, illegal seizure, extortions and incidences of sexual and gender-based violence.” ActionAid said in the statement.