The coronavirus is still very much with us after the first and second wave, even though many people seem to downplay the reality of the deadly virus.
Some elite, middle class and the grassroots people still have doubt on the dangers of the deadly coronavirus. While some claim that the disease may just be treated like ordinary malaria and common cold and cough medication others are of the opinion that the disease does not exist at all. For instance when interacting with Mrs Helen Okonjo, a staff of a law firm in Abuja, who vehemently opposed the reality of the Covid-19. According to her that it was another way of the government to milk the international community while keeping the general public in the dark.
With the current ongoing vaccination exercise against covid-19, where it is expected that elite and middle class people will lead the way by going to the nearest vaccination point to take the first jab of vaccination against the virus, many of them are indifferent while some bluntly refuse the idea of being vaccinated.
Could this therefore be the reason why these commercial operators like motorcycle and tricycle riders have little or no respect in obeying the covid-19 protocols? From findings, these operators are mostly secondary school drop outs, some of them have never attended any formal educational institution of learning, whether primary or secondary while others are undergraduates struggling to make a living out of life.
Be that as it may, these cyclists commonly called ‘Okada and Keke Maruwa’ respectively, are people that have been seen as constituting nuisance in the society, because many of them ride their bikes under the influence of alcohol and hard drugs. Consequently, some state governors have enacted laws completely banning their operations in their main cities and their operations are therefore limited to the satellite towns
Interacting with some of them on their perception of the covid-19 protocols, it was discovered that majority of them are completely unaware of the necessity of regular hand washing, wearing of face mask and obeying social distancing which are the basic protocols to staying safe from the deadly virus. Speaking with Nasiru Bala, a motorcycle rider in Mararaba, Nasarawa state, said “Coro is not meant for me, it is China sickness and for our ‘big men’ in Abuja.” That is the believe of the average cyclist.
