By Balogun Damilola
Governor Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai of Kaduna state has warned that coronavirus is not a friend to anybody, and could strike where it is least expected.
He spoke in a radio Hausa program monitored by journalists in Kaduna on Wednesday.
He said “Despite the security paraphernalia around me, I got the virus, this goes to show that the virus does not recognize any personality,”
“I’m truly ageing, I’m a few steps above 60 and this disease is not kind to the old, I’m old. That is the danger. If one is above 50, one should be very careful not to contract the virus. To an aged person with other health complications like diabetes, hypertension, coronavirus will be very deadly.”
“When I came out from isolation, I intended to leave my beard because it was the tradition of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, may the peace and blessings of Allah be with him. But as I visited my mother to greet her, she was against my new look. She asked me to shave. According to her, my father was not bearded during his lifetime. I had no option but to shave my beard because I want to live peacefully with my mother.”
Commenting on his traumatic experience while in isolation, he said “I could’ve died if not for my doctors…..I followed their instructions strictly and took my medications……My wives collaborated with Dr Hadiza, the Deputy Governor and seized my phones while in isolation. I was only left with an iPad, the device I used to read and go online.”
“I can’t exactly say how I contracted the coronavirus……But I was in Abuja and had interacted with many people, some from overseas …….I was assigned to chair committees by the government…..I believe it was from these interactions that I got the virus.”
“It’s a good coincidence that we have Dr Hadiza as our Deputy Governor and Dr Baloni who was with UNICEF for over 20 years and knows much about public health……We are glad and lucky to have them, especially during this pandemic.”
He warned the public, particularly some recalcitrant traders in the state that government will deal decisively, with anyone who attempts to derail measures put in place to contain the spread of COVID-19.
” We’ve instructed the soldiers, the security agencies to deal with any troublemaker, no matter the status in society, wallahi.”
He said he was the first to suffer from the virus in the state, and Allah knows why.
“I survived it, someone else may not. That is why we are very serious about the disease… I went through trauma… even when I spoke online from isolation, I was battling with a debilitating headache….. I won’t like even my enemy to suffer from coronavirus…” he said.